In grade 8, students continue to refine their listening and speaking skills, giving formal and informal presentations. They summarize texts on similar topics and revise for word choice and sentence variety. Grade 8 students analyze complex nonfiction texts and works of literature by reading closely and uncovering evidence to wield in their own writing. At this level, students can now determine how literary elements and devices impact a text’s tone, and they acknowledge counterclaims in their argumentative essays. They can also assess whether a claim is substantiated. Students develop a rich vocabulary of academic words, which they use to speak and write with more precision. As their language skills expand, they begin to recognize active and passive voice and correct misplaced and dangling modifiers as well as use verbals to create clarity and add variety to their writing. Students use direct quotes, summaries, and now paraphrases in their research papers and projects. They continue to create and critique multimodal content and broaden their independent reading and writing horizons.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a research-based framework for improving student learning experiences and outcomes through careful instructional planning focused on the varied needs of all students, including students with visible and non-visible disabilities, advanced and gifted learners, and English learners.

Some general ideas for implementing the UDL lens in an ELA lesson, PK-12, are provided in this chart.

These exemplar lesson plans showcase best practices for English language arts. These lessons are aligned to the Oklahoma Academic Standards and bundle together multiple objectives to showcase the recursive nature of ELA. Each lesson plan includes helpful explanations about the instructional plan and steps. Teachers can review these sample lessons on their own, with a colleague, and/or with their professional learning community, to reflect on the highlighted ELA practices and how they mesh with their own current classroom practices.

Lesson plans are available for each grade featuring texts from the following genres: fiction, nonfiction, & poetry.

Moreover, an exemplar lesson plan sequence regarding Standard 6 research is available for each grade band.

This suite of writing resources includes:

• student-friendly checklists for the narrative, informative, argumentative, and research modes
• editing checklists for the beginning and middle of the school year
• examples of teacher feedback on student writing
• a peer feedback lesson plan with a slideshow and handout

• Engagement Strategies
• 8th Grade ELA Standards (pages 88-95)