This resource accompanies our Rethink 8th Grade ELA course. It includes ideas for use, ways to support exceptional children, ways to extend learning, digital resources and tools, tips for supporting English Language Learners and students with visual and hearing impairments. There are also ideas for offline learning. 

This parent guide supports parents in helping their child at home with the 8th grade ELA content.

In this lesson, students will discover a policy within their school or district that is important to them and that they'd like to change. They will conduct an investigation of the policy in question and write a letter with their claim, results, and recommendation to the appropriate audience.

In this video, students work in small groups to determine what it takes to make the conclusions of their essays stronger. The students read sample conclusions and rank them from weakest to strongest. The use of arguments and textual evidence in these samples allow students to revise their own essay conclusions modeled by the strongest conclusion.

Birth of a Colony explores the history of North Carolina from the time of European exploration through the Tuscarora War. Presented in five acts, the video combines primary sources and expert commentary to bring this period of our history to life. The opening segment describes the forces that motivated European exploration and colonization of the New World. Explorers and colonists encountered native peoples with agricultural lifestyles, strong communities, and respect for the land. These Indian communities saw themselves as part of nature, and they lived in harmony with the natural world. Their spiritual practices, such as the Green Corn Ceremony, reflected this worldview. The Europeans came to the New World primarily in search of land and riches. With two such different cultural viewpoints, clashes were inevitable. This teacher's guide includes a strictly social studies lesson and a complementary ELA lesson (writing assignment).

The lesson includes an exploration of the genre of letters to the editor, a review of persuasive writing structure and letter format, and an emphasis on multi-draft writing. The lesson focuses on the character Roy Eberhardt from Carl Hiaasen’s Newbery Honor Book Hoot for its examples. Students can complete the activity for any book that they have read.

Students examine books, selected from the American Library Association Challenged/Banned Books list, and write persuasive pieces expressing their views about what should be done with the books at their school.

Students research the three tenets of cell theory and describe the scientific evidence that supports this theory. After students complete their research, they will engage in all steps of the writing process, including prewriting, outlining, revising, and editing. At the conclusion of the lesson, students will create a three-paragraph argumentative essay to examine the cell theory and the scientific evidence that supports this theory.

In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

In this lesson, the students will get practice in reading and writing habits that they have been working with throughout the curriculum, in this case using poetry.

Students will build on their existing knowledge of the solar system as they research one of the planets in order to determine whether a manned mission to that planet would be feasible. Students will collect information about the geology, composition, and orbit of their assigned planet. They will then work collaboratively to create a proposal for or against planning a trip to the planet to be presented to the rest of the class.

In this lesson the students will be using a variety of skills to analyze fiction and expository texts. This combines the reading of detective fiction with written expository analysis in the form of a Detective’s Handbook. Each student reads a detective mystery, and the class watches and analyzes Murder She Purred to establish a collective example.

Suggestions on how to guide students through the writing process when writing editorials "” from brainstorming a topic to publishing their work "” and all the steps in between.

This lesson continues to prepare students to write End of Unit 2 assessment. Today, students use their Atticus note-catchers and their understanding of Atticus as a character to weigh the evidence and craft the claim for their argument essay.

In this lesson, the idea of a “quote sandwich” is introduced. This is a way to help students understand that when they use evidence in an argument essay, they should always analyze the quote.

In this lesson, students write the draft of their essay about Atticus’s decision to defend Tom Robinson.

This lesson continues to prepare students to write their argument essay for their End of Unit 2 Assessment. Today, students use their Evidence of Control note-catchers and their understanding of the concept of control as expressed through two of Shakespeare’s characters from A Midsummer Night’s Dream by weighing the evidence and crafting the claim for their argument essay.

In this lesson, the Quote Sandwich is introduced; this is a way to help students understand that when they use evidence in an argument essay, they should always: introduce the quote with context so the reader is not confused about what is happening in the novel, include the quote, and analyze the quote.

In this lesson, students start a Writing Improvement Tracker that they will return to after writing the essay in each module for the rest of the year. In Work Time A, students craft a response to a counterclaim. During Work Time B, consider working with students who still need help understanding what an argument essay is or how to write a claim with reasons and evidence for an argument essay.

In this lesson, students write the draft of their essay about Shakespeare making the case that it is not possible to control another person.