• Why are reading, writing, and storytelling essential components of the human experience?

• How does English Language Arts expand our perspective?

• How can one person make a change?

All ELA standards can be found listed in the updated 2017 Massachusetts State ELA Grade 8 Frameworks:

Students will learn...

Reading for Literature

Key Ideas

• How to determine a central idea or theme

• Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story, poem, or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision

Craft and Structure

• Compare and contrast the structures of two or more texts, analyzing how structure contributes to meaning and style in each text.

• Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning, tone, or mood, including the impact of allusion and irony

Speaking and Listening

• How to engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

• How to contribute to class discussions, having read or researched material under study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence on the topic, text, or issue to probe and reflect on ideas under discussion.

• How to pose questions that connect the ideas of several speakers and respond to others’ questions and comments with relevant evidence, observations, and ideas.

Language

• Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings. a. Interpret figures of speech (e.g. verbal irony, puns) in context. b. Use the relationship between particular words to better understand each of the words