Language Arts Standards

Following is a list of the Ashford School language arts standards for grade 8. These are the frameworks that our language arts committee created to reflect the state of Connecticut's curriculum documents. The whole report (grades Pre-K to 12) is available by contacting Ashford School.

READING
Students comprehend and respond in literal, critical and evaluative ways to various texts that are read, viewed and heard.

1. Reading and Responding
Students read, comprehend and respond in individual, literal, critical and evaluative ways to literary, informational and persuasive texts in multimedia formats.

1.3 Students select and apply strategies to facilitate word recognition and develop vocabulary in order to comprehend text.
Grade-Level Expectations

Vocabulary
1. explain and evaluate the effectiveness of persuasive vocabulary authors across all content areas use to influence reader’s opinions or actions , e.g., loaded words, exaggeration, emotional words, euphemisms.

1. Reading and Responding
1.1 Students use appropriate strategies before, during and after reading in order to construct meaning.

1.2 Students interpret, analyze and evaluate text in order to extend understanding and appreciation.

2. Exploring and Responding
Students read and respond to classical and contemporary texts from many cultures and literary periods.

2.1 Students recognize how literary devices and conventions engage the reader.

2.2 Students explore multiple responses to literature.

2.3 Students recognize and appreciate that contemporary and classical literature has shaped human thought.

2.4 Students recognize that reads and authors are influences by individual, social, cultural and historical contexts.

Reading Comprehension
Students will independently accomplish all before, during and after comprehension grade-level expectations. Teachers will continue to spiral all previous grade-level expectations. Students will read, view, listen to and write about a variety of fiction and nonfiction contemporary, classical, multicultural and culturally relevant texts in all content areas. Teachers will be culturally responsive to students. Students will provide evidence from text to support all oral, written and presented responses about text.

Before and During Reading

2. Use cueing system and context clues to determine meanings of words.
3. Evaluate and justify an author’s genre preference.


DRP


CMT Reading
Comprehension
A5 Use context clues to determine meanings of unknown or multiple-meaning words or figurative language.

1. Reading and Responding
1.1
1.2
1.4 Students communicate with others to create interpretations of written, oral and visual texts.

2. Exploring and Responding to Literature
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4

After Reading
General Understanding
4. Generalize about universal themes, human nature, cultural and historical perspectives from reading multiple texts.
5. Explain how a story’s plots and subplots do/do not contribute to the conflict and resolution.
6. Interpret how situations, actions and other characters influence a character’s personality and development.

Developing an Interpretation
7. Develop literal and inferential questions about texts using explicit and implicit evidence from the texts.
8. Compare and contrast literature written in a variety of genres and explain why certain genres are best suited to convey a specific message or invoke a particular response from the reader.
9. Analyze the characteristics and structural elements/essential attributes in a variety of poetic forms, e.g., epic, sonnet, ballad, haiku, free verse.
10. Compare, contrast and critique two author’s beliefs and assumptions about a single topic or issue and decide which author presents the stronger argument.
11. Explain how certain actions cause certain effects, e.g., how the Holocaust changed international politics today or how the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II affected traditional Japanese family structure.


Making Reader/Text Connections
12. Identify motivations and reactions of literary characters from different cultures or historical periods when confronting similar personal conflicts, and hypothesize how those characters would handle a similar modern conflict.


Content and Structure
13. Critique the way in which an author uses a variety of language structures to create an intended effect, e.g., words or phrases from another language, dialect, simile and metaphor.
14. Critique an author’s reasoning and use of evidence in an argument or defense of a claim.
15. Analyze and critique the intended effects of propaganda techniques the author uses to influence readers’ perspectives.
16. Evaluate recurring themes in literature that reflect worldwide social and/or economic change, e.g., social change, such as characters that change their attitudes after learning about different cultures.
17. Extend the meaning of a text by expressing an insight implied but not stated, e.g., author’s perspective, the nature of conflict, or use text-based information to solve a problem not explicitly identified in the text, e.g., use information in an article about fitness to design an exercise routine.


CMT/CAPT Reading Comprehension
A1 Determine the main idea (nonfiction) theme (fiction) the text.
A2 Identify or infer important characters, problems, settings, events, relationships and details.
A3 Select and use relevant information from the text in order to summarize events and/or ideas in the text.

B1 Identify or infer the author’s use of structure/organizational patterns.
B2 Draw conclusions about the author’s purpose for choosing genres or including or omitting specific details in the text.
B3 Use stated or implied evidence from the text to draw and/or support a conclusion.

C1 Make connections between the text and outside experiences and knowledge.
C2 Select, synthesize and/or use relevant information within the text to write a personal response to the text.

D1 Analyze and evaluate the author’s craft including use of literary devices and textual elements
D2 Select, synthesize and/or use relevant information within the texts to extend or evaluate the texts.
D3 Demonstrate an awareness of an author’s or character’s values, customs and beliefs included in the text.


1. Reading and Responding
1.2

2. Exploring and Responding to
Literature
2.1

Reading Reflection/Behaviors
1. Set goals for reading and develop a reading improvement plan.
2. Track reading progress through the use of such tools as portfolios, learning logs, self-scoring rubrics or strategy charts.
GRADE 8

ORAL LANGUAGE
Students will listen and speak to communicate ideas clearly.

1. Reading and Responding
1.4

3. Communicating with Others
Students produce written, oral and visual texts to express, develop and substantiate ideas and experiences.

3.1 Students use descriptive, narrative, expository, persuasive and poetic modes.
3.2 Students prepare, publish and/or present work appropriate to audience, purpose and task.

4. Applying English Language
Conventions
Students apply the conventions of standard English in oral, written and visual communication.

4.1 Students use knowledge of their language and culture to improve competency in English.

4.2 Students speak and write using standard language structures and diction appropriate to audience and task.
Grade-Level Expectations

Listening / Speaking
1. Evaluate the credibility of a speaker, e.g., hidden agendas, slants or biases.
2. Deliver focused, coherent oral presentations, with and without notes, that clearly convey ideas and use appropriate intonation, enunciation, pace, word choice and grammar.
3. Use audience feedback, e.g., verbal and nonverbal cues, to modify an oral presentation.
4. Provide helpful feedback to speakers based on agreed on criteria concerning the quality of a speech and the speaker’s delivery.
5. Engage in oral telling of stories from a variety of cultures an periods of history that use a range of strategies to make the story engaging to the audience, e.g., using dialogue and suspense; showing narrative action with movement, gestures and expressions.

WRITING
Students express, develop and substantiate ideas and experiences through their own writing and artistic and technical presentations.

1. Reading and Responding
1.4

3. Communicating with Others
3.2

4. Applying English Language
Conventions
4.1
4.2
4.3 Students use standard English for composing and revising written text.
Grade-Level Expectations

Spelling
1. Use spelling rules and patterns from previous grades.
2. Use multiple strategies to spell.
Examples:
- homophones, e.g., capital and capitol
- affixes, e.g., dis-, ir-, -ist -ism
- Greek and Latin roots, e.g., circus, spiral, vision
- words from other languages, e.g., arena, buffet, souffle, lariat
- frequently misspelled words, e.g., accommodation, cemetery,
receive Assessments



1. Reading and Responding
1.4

3. Communicating with Others
3.2

4. Applying English Language
Conventions
4.1
4.2
4.3

Capitalization / Punctuation / Usage
3. Use capitalization, punctuation, and usage rules from previous grades.
4. Capitalizes the title of a specific course, e.g., History 9a as opposed to history.
5. Use commas to enclose titles, e.g., Jennifer Longstreet, M.D., is a pediatrician.
6. Use commas for emphasis or clarity, e.g., What the teacher does, does affect students’ learning.
7. Place commas and periods inside quotation marks.
8. Use apostrophes to form plurals of letters or numbers, e.g., know your ABC’s.
9. Use apostrophes in possessive compound nouns, e.g., the mother-in-law’s birthday.
10. Use a colon between title and subtitle, e.g., Write Source 2000: A Guide to Thinking, Writing and Learning.
11. Uses slash (/) correctly, e.g., in a fraction; to show choice.
12. Uses parallel construction when listing infinitive phrases, e.g., parallel: Bradley likes to run, dive, and ride horses; not parallel: Bradley likes to run, to dive, and ride a horse.
13. Use paragraph conventions, e.g., designated by indentation or block format, skipping lines between paragraphs.
14. Use textual markers, e.g., rows, columns, tables.
15. Cite sources according to prescribed format, e.g., MLA, APA.
CMT/CAPT Editing & Revising

3. Communicating with Others
3.1
3.2

4. Applying English Language
Conventions
4.1
4.2
4.3
Writing Process

16. Plan: collect and explore ideas for later use as a basis for informational, persuasive or literary writing, e.g., maintain writer’s notebook.

17. Draft: decide if multiple drafts are necessary, and continue drafting/revising as appropriate.

18. Revise: revise, checking for organization, clarity, fluency and elaboration.

19. Edit: use multiple resources, e.g., dictionary, glossary, thesaurus, for proofreading and editing.

20. Publish/Present: uses different technologies to produce, design and publish a finished product, e.g., political cartoons, brochure, stock market or consumer analysis.

21. Reflect: critique work independently and in groups, and establish a focus collaboratively, e.g., author’s craft, elaboration, fluency.

CMT Writing:
Persuasive

CAPT Writing:
Persuasive Interdisciplinary Writing Tasks: Persuasive with support from two sources, organization, fluency, clarity.

3. Communicating with Others
3.1
3.2

4. Applying English Language
Conventions
4.1
4.2
4.3
Writing Genres, Traits and Crafts

Descriptive:
22. Write a script for a play or television episode, fully developing setting and characters so actors can take on role.
23. Write a piece selecting literary devices to convey a specific meaning, e.g., symbols and analogies.
24. Write a piece selecting words for connotation and denotation, e.g., plump vs. fat, shack vs. house.

Narrative:
25. Write elaborate dialogue, e.g., script, commercial.

Expository:
26. Write a speech about a mathematical or scientific concept.
27. Write an informational report, e.g., science, social studies, art history, music.
28. Write minutes to a group meeting.
29. Write a letter to the editor.

Persuasive:
30. Analyze and synthesize information from multiple resources to establish and support a position, and to examine opposing perspectives.
31. Prepare a position for and engage in a debate.
32. Develop a business portfolio to sell a product.
33. Write a review of a restaurant, movie, television show, concert, website.
34. Write a newspaper editorial.
35. Write a public service announcement.
36. Write a cover letter to a business expressing interest in volunteering, employment.

Poetic:
37. Write poetry in style of choice.
38. Research and present types of poetry not yet learned.

CMT Writing:
Persuasive

CAPT Writing:
Persuasive Interdisciplinary Writing Tasks: Persuasive with support from two sources, organization, fluency, clarity.


Framework Standards

Standard 1: Reading and Responding
Overarching Idea: Students read, comprehend and respond in individual, literal, critical and evaluative ways to literary, informational and persuasive texts in multimedia formats.
Guiding Question: How do we understand what we read?
Component Statements:
1.1 Students use appropriate strategies before, during and after reading in order to construct meaning.
1.2 Students interpret, analyze and evaluate text in order to extend understanding and appreciation.
1.3 Students select and apply strategies to facilitate word recognition and develop vocabulary in order to comprehend text.
1.4 Students communicate with others to create interpretations of written, oral and visual texts.

Standard 2: Exploring and Responding to Literature
Overarching Idea: Students read and respond to classical and contemporary texts from many cultures and literary periods.
Guiding Question: How does literature enrich our lives?
Component Statements:
2.1 Students recognize how literary devices and conventions engage the reader.
2.2 Students explore multiple responses to literature.
2.3 Students recognize and appreciate that contemporary and classical literature has shaped human thought.
2.4 Students recognize that readers and authors are influenced by individual, social, cultural and historical contexts.

Standard 3: Communicating with Others
Overarching Idea: Students produce written, oral and visual texts to express, develop and substantiate ideas and experiences.
Guiding Question: How do we write, speak and present effectively?
Component Statements:
3.1 Students use descriptive, narrative, expository, persuasive and poetic modes.
3.2 Students prepare, publish and/or present work appropriate to audience, purpose and task.

Standard 4: Applying English Language Conventions
Overarching Idea: Students apply the conventions of standard English in oral, written and visual communication.
Guiding Question: How do we use the English language appropriately to speak and write?
Component Statements:
4.1 Students use knowledge of their language and culture to improve competency in English.
4.2 Students speak and write using standard language structures and diction appropriate to audience and task.
4.3 Students use standard English for composing and revising written text.