Grade 8. English language arts curriculum

Reading

1 read and demonstrate an understanding of a variety of literary, graphic, and informational texts, using a range of strategies to construct meaning;
- 1 read a wide variety of increasingly complex or difficult texts from diverse cultures, including literary texts (e.g., short stories, novels, poetry, essays, science fiction, memoirs, scripts, satire), graphic texts (e.g., graphs and graphic organizers, charts and tables, surveys, maps, spreadsheets), and informational texts (e.g., essays, Canadian and global print and online sources, electronic texts, textbooks, dictionaries, thesauri, websites, transcripts)
- 2 identify a variety of purposes for reading and choose increasingly complex or difficult reading materials appropriate for those purposes (e.g., several online or print articles by the same author to identify consistency or change in the author ‘s point of view; websites for information on a topic from different sources; stories from different cultures, including Aboriginal cultures, to compare treatments of similar themes)
- 3 identify a variety of reading comprehension strategies and use them appropriately before, during, and after reading to understand increasingly complex or difficult texts (e.g., activate prior knowledge on a topic through dialogue or by developing mind maps; use visualization and comparisons with images in other texts or media to clarify impressions of characters, scenes, or concepts; ask questions to monitor and clarify understanding; identify important ideas; synthesize ideas to broaden understanding)
- 4 demonstrate understanding of increasingly complex and difficult texts by summarizing important ideas and explaining how the details support the main idea (e.g., theme or argument and supporting evidence in reviews, essays, plays, poems; key information and related data in public documents, online and print reference articles, manuals, surveys, graphs, tables and charts, websites, transcripts)
- 5 develop and explain interpretations of increasingly complex or difficult texts using stated and implied ideas from the texts to support their interpretations
  - Interpret the meaning of allusions (8-O.2)
  - Interpret figures of speech (8-O.4)
- 6 extend understanding of texts, including increasingly complex or difficult texts, by connecting the ideas in them to their own knowledge, experience, and insights, to other texts, and to the world around them
- 7 analyse a variety of texts, including complex or difficult texts, and explain how the various elements in them contribute to meaning and influence the reader’s reaction (e.g., narrative: rising action holds attention and creates suspense; report on an investigation: the opening paragraph tells the reader about the purpose, goals, and audience for the report)
- 8 evaluate the effectiveness of a text based on evidence taken from that text
- 9 identify the point of view presented in texts, including increasingly complex or difficult texts; give evidence of any biases they may contain; and suggest other possible perspectives (e.g., determine whether an environmental argument should include an economic perspective or an economic argument should include an environmental perspective)
2 recognize a variety of text forms, text features, and stylistic elements and demonstrate understanding of how they help communicate meaning;
- 1 analyse a variety of text forms and explain how their particular characteristics help communicate meaning, with a focus on literary texts such as a memoir (e.g., the author’s personality and/or special experience of the subject are an important part of the narrative, even if the author is not the subject of the narrative), graphic texts such as a map (e.g., the different colours for land and water help readers understand what geographical features they are looking at), and informational texts such as a magazine article (e.g., sidebars allow minor themes to be developed in detail without interrupting the main narrative)
- 2 analyse increasingly complex texts to identify different types of organizational patterns used in them and explain how the patterns help communicate meaning (e.g., a “before-and-after” comparison in an advertisement; time order and cause and effect in an online magazine or newspaper article)
- 3 identify a variety of text features and explain how they help communicate meaning (e.g., tree diagrams, tables, end notes, and “Works Cited” or “References” lists help readers locate information and understand its context)
- 4 identify a range of elements of style – including symbolism, irony, analogy, metaphor, and other rhetorical devices – and explain how they help communicate meaning and enhance the effectiveness of texts (e.g., the use of dramatic irony, in which the audience understands the implications of words or actions better than the characters do themselves, can create humour or a sense of foreboding)
- 3 use knowledge of words and cueing systems to read fluently; after reading.
  - 1 automatically read and understand most words in a wide range of reading contexts (e.g., words from grade-level texts; terminology used in discussions and posted in the classroom; words from shared-, guided-, and independent-reading texts, electronic texts, and resource material used in the curriculum subject areas)
  - 2 predict the meaning of and rapidly solve unfamiliar words using different types of cues, including:
    - semantic (meaning) cues (e.g., base words, prefixes, suffixes, phrases, sentences, and visuals that activate existing knowledge of oral and written language);
    - syntactic (language structure) cues (e.g., word order and the relationship between words, language patterns, punctuation);
    - graphophonic (phonological and graphic) cues (e.g., familiar words within larger words, syllables within larger words, similarities between words with known spelling patterns and unknown words)
    - 3 read appropriate texts with expression and confidence, adjusting reading strategies and reading rate to match the form and purpose (e.g., orally read to entertain a younger class, using suitable emphasis, intonation, and phrasing)
  - 4 reflect on and identify their strengths as readers, areas for improvement, and the strategies they found most helpful before, during, and
    - 1 identify the strategies they found most helpful before, during, and after reading and explain, in conversation with the teacher and/or peers or in a reader’s notebook/reflective journal, how they can use these and other strategies to improve as readers

4.2 explain, in conversation with the teacher and/or peers or in a reader’s notebook/reflective journal, how their skills in listening, speaking, writing, viewing, and representing help them make sense of what they read

Writing

1 generate, gather, and organize ideas and information to write for an intended purpose and audience;
- 1 identify the topic, purpose, and audience for more complex writing forms (e.g., a personal memoir about the school experience to share with classmates, family, and friends at graduation; a report on a topic of current interest in the style of a newspaper article, including headlines, for a school or community newspaper; a campaign flyer or brochure to promote a candidate for school government)
  - Which sentence is more formal? (8-N.1)
- 2 generate ideas about more challenging topics and identify those most appropriate to the purpose
- 3 gather information to support ideas for writing, using a variety of strategies and a wide range of print and electronic sources (e.g., produce a plan and timeline for carrying out research tasks; interview people with knowledge of the topic; identify and use graphic and multimedia resources; record sources used and information gathered in a form that makes it easy to understand and retrieve)
- 4 sort and classify ideas and information for their writing in a variety of ways that allow them to manipulate information and see different combinations and relationships in their data (e.g., by using electronic graphic organizers, tables, charts)
- 5 identify and order main ideas and supporting details and group them into units that could be used to develop a summary, a debate, or a report of several paragraphs, using a variety of strategies (e.g., making jot notes; making sketch board outlines of a procedure or series of events) and organizational patterns (e.g., combined/multiple orders such as order of importance and cause and effect)
- 6 determine whether the ideas and information they have gathered are relevant, appropriate, and sufficiently specific for the purpose, and do more planning and research if necessary (e.g., check for depth and breadth of coverage of the topic)
2 draft and revise their writing, using a variety of informational, literary, and graphic forms and stylistic elements appropriate for the purpose and audience;
- 1 write complex texts of a variety of lengths using a wide range of forms (e.g., a memoir of a significant Canadian; a report comparing the economies of two nations and explaining how a new industry might affect each nation’s economy; briefing notes for an oral debate outlining both sides of an argument, including appeals to both logic and emotion; a narrative in the style of a particular author, adding to or extending a text by that author; an original satirical, science-fiction, or realistic fiction piece modelled on the structures and conventions of the genre; a free verse or narrative poem, or a limerick)
- 2 establish a distinctive voice in their writing appropriate to the subject and audience, (e.g., use emotive language to persuade the audience to share their feelings, and explain the effect they think it will have on the audience)
- 3 regularly use vivid and/or figurative language and innovative expressions in their writing (e.g., adjective phrases: The car with the fluorescent red racing stripe; adverb phrases: He walked with the gait of a sailor; specialized vocabulary and terminology; analogies and idioms)
- 4 vary sentence types and structures for different purposes (e.g., to alter the pace or mood), with a focus on using a range of relative pronouns (e.g., who, which), subordinate conjunctions (e.g., whenever, because, although), and both the active and passive voice
- 5 identify their point of view and other possible points of view, evaluate other points of view, and find ways to respond to other points of view, if appropriate
- 6 identify elements in their writing that need improvement, selectively using feedback from the teacher and peers, with a focus on depth of content and appropriateness of tone
  - Positive and negative connotation (8-J.4)
  - Which sentence is more formal? (8-N.1)
- 7 make revisions to improve the content, clarity, and interest of their written work, using a variety of strategies (e.g., use sticky notes while rereading to record questions and ideas; cut and paste to improve logic of organization; add or substitute words and phrases, including vocabulary from other subject areas; use idioms, figurative language, and rhetorical devices such as analogy to achieve particular effects; adjust sentence length, type, and complexity to suit the audience and purpose; use patterns such as repetition with variations to emphasize important points and hold the attention of the audience)
- 8 produce revised draft pieces of writing to meet identified criteria based on the expectations (e.g., adequate development of information and ideas, logical organization, appropriate use of form and style, appropriate use of conventions)
- 3 use editing, proofreading, and publishing skills and strategies, and knowledge of language conventions, to correct errors, refine expression, and present their work effectively;
  - 1 spell familiar words correctly (e.g., words from their oral vocabulary, anchor charts, and shared-, guided-, and independent-reading texts; words used regularly in instruction across the curriculum)
  - 2 spell unfamiliar words using a variety of strategies that involve understanding sound-symbol relationships, word structures, word meanings, and generalizations about spelling (e.g., orally emphasize differences in easily confused words: affect/effect, technicality/technically; compare complicated words to words with known letter patterns; use knowledge of the history of a word to help spell it: sheep herder/shepherd; use knowledge of familiar words to spell technical terms)
  - 3 confirm spellings and word meanings or word choice using a wide variety of resources appropriate for the purpose (e.g., locate entry words, pronunciation keys, prefixes, and information about word origins in online and print dictionaries, including thematic dictionaries such as a dictionary of synonyms, antonyms, and homonyms, a science dictionary)
  - 4 use punctuation appropriately to communicate their intended meaning in more complex writing forms, including forms specific to different subjects across the curriculum, with a focus on the use of: commas to separate introductory phrases from the main part of a sentence and to separate words, phrases, and clauses in a series; quotation marks to distinguish words being discussed as words and to indicate titles; ellipses (…) and dashes to indicate sentence breaks, ambiguities, or parenthetical statements
  - 5 use parts of speech correctly to communicate their meaning clearly, with a focus on subject/verb agreement and the use of nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, and prepositions
  - 6 proofread and correct their writing using guidelines developed with peers and the teacher (e.g., an editing checklist specific to the writing task)
  - 7 use a wide range of appropriate elements of effective presentation in the finished product, including print, script, different fonts, graphics, and layout (e.g., use legible printing and cursive writing; use an imaginative text layout, drawings, and a table of contents in a class poetry anthology for the school library; use a spreadsheet to display detailed specific information)
  - 8 produce pieces of published work to meet identified criteria based on the expectations (e.g., adequacy of information and ideas, logic and effectiveness of organization, effective use of form and stylistic elements, appropriate use of conventions, effective presentation)
- 4 reflect on and identify their strengths as writers, areas for improvement, and the strategies they found most helpful at different stages in the writing process.
  - 1 identify a variety of strategies they used before, during, and after writing, explain which ones were most helpful, and suggest future steps they can take to improve as writers (e.g., use a three-column reflection journal to monitor the writing process: What I learned/How I learned it/How I can use it)
  - 2 describe how their skills in listening, speaking, reading, viewing, and representing help in their development as writers
  - 3 select pieces of writing that they think reflect their growth and competence as writers and explain the reasons for their choice