8th Grade Curriculum Guide
Teachers will utilize the comprehensive Common Core State Standards (CCSS) when providing instruction. The following are essential skills that the district has determined are critical for mastery as students progress from one grade level to the next. Each learning skill has a direct correlation to one or more of the CCSS.
In English Language Arts, eighth-graders will:
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text. (RL.8.2)
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 and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts. (RL.8.4)
By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of grades 6-8 text complexity band independently and proficiently. (RL.8.10)
Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. (RI.8.1)
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts. (RI.8.4)
Analyze in detail the structure of a specific paragraph in a text, including the role of particular sentences in developing and refining a key concept. (RI.8.5)
Analyze a case in which two or more texts provide conflicting information on the same topic and identify where the texts disagree on matters of fact or interpretation. (RI.8.9)
By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction at the high end of the grades 6-8 text complexity band independently and proficiently. (RI.8.10)
Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence. (W.8.1)
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content. (W.8.2)
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences. (W.8.3)
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (W.8.4)
Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two.) (W.8.10)
Present claims and findings, emphasizing salient points in a focused, coherent manner with relevant evidence, sound valid reasoning, and well-chosen details; use appropriate eye contact, adequate volume, and clear pronunciation. (SL.8.4)
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. (L.8.2)
Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression. (L.8.6)
In Mathematics, eighth-graders will:
Know and apply the properties of integer exponents to generate equivalent numerical expressions. (EE.A.1)
Use square root and cube root symbols to represent solutions to equations of the form x² = p and x³ = p, where p is a positive rational number. (EE.A.2)
Perform operations with numbers expressed in scientific notation, including problems where both decimal and scientific notation are used. Use scientific notation and choose units of appropriate size for measurements of very large or very small quantities. (EE.A.4)
Graph proportional relationships, interpreting the unit rate as the slope of the graph. (EE.B.5)
Use similar triangles to explain why the slope m is the same between any two distinct points on a non-vertical line in the coordinate plane; derive the equation y = mx for a line through the origin and the equation y = mx + b for a line intercepting the vertical axis at b. (EE.B.6)
Solve linear equations in one variable. (EE.C.7)
Analyze and solve pairs of simultaneous linear equations. (EE.C.8)
Understand that a function is a rule that assigns to each input exactly one output. (F.A.1)
Construct a function to model a linear relationship between two quantities. Determine the rate of change and initial value of the function from a description of a relationship or from two (x, y) values, including reading these from a table or from a graph. Interpret the rate of change and initial value of a linear function in terms of the situation it models, and in terms of its graph or a table of values. (F.B.4)
Verify experimentally the properties of rotations, reflections, and translations. (G.A.1)
Understand that a two-dimensional figure is congruent to another if the second can be obtained from the first by a sequence of rotations, reflections, and translations. (G.A.2)
Describe the effect of dilations, translations, rotations, and reflections on two-dimensional figures using coordinates. (G.A.3)
Understand that a two-dimensional figure is similar to another if the second can be obtained from the first by a sequence of rotations, reflections, translations, and dilations. (G.A.4)
Use informal arguments to establish facts about the angle sum and exterior angle of triangles, about the angles created when parallel lines are cut by a transversal, and the angle-angle criterion for similarity of triangles. (G.A.5)
Explain a proof of the Pythagorean Theorem and its converse. Apply the Pythagorean Theorem in real-world mathematical problems in two and three dimensions. (G.B.6/G.B.7/G.B.8)
Know the formulas for the volumes of cones, cylinders, and spheres and use them to solve real-world and mathematical problems. (G.C.9)
Construct and interpret scatter plots for bivariate measurement data to investigate patterns of association between two quantities. Describe patterns such as clustering, outliers, positive or negative association, linear association, and nonlinear association. (SP.A.1)
Know that straight lines are widely used to model relationships between two quantitative variables. For scatter plots that suggest a linear association, informally fit a straight line, and informally assess the model fit by judging the closeness of the data points to the line. (SP.A.2)
Use the equation of a linear model to solve problems in the context of bivariate measurement data, interpreting the slope and intercept. (SP.A.3)
Know that numbers that are not rational are called irrational. Understand informally that every number has a decimal expansion. (NS.A.1)
