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California Standards

California 8th Grade ELA Standards

All 41 California English language arts standards for 8th grade, each explained in plain English. Where California uses the Common Core wording, it is one click away; California's own additions are explained in our words.

41 standards

Reading Standards for Literature

9 standards
RL.8.1
Quote the lines from a story, play or poem that prove a point about it best, including points the text only implies.
Official wording
Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
Common Core RL.8.1
RL.8.2
Find a story's theme, trace how the characters, setting and plot build it, and sum the story up without taking sides.
Official wording
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.
Common Core RL.8.2
RL.8.3
Explain how one line of dialogue or one event moves the plot along, shows what a character is like, or pushes a decision.
Official wording
Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision.
Common Core RL.8.3
RL.8.4
Work out figurative and emotional meanings of words in literature, and explain how word choices, including analogies and allusions to other works, shape meaning and tone.
RL.8.5
Compare how two or more poems or stories are built, like a sonnet beside free verse, and say what each shape adds to the meaning.
Official wording
Compare and contrast the structure of two or more texts and analyze how the differing structure of each text contributes to its meaning and style.
Common Core RL.8.5
RL.8.6
Explain how a gap between what a character knows and what the reader knows, like dramatic irony, builds suspense or humor.
Official wording
Analyze how differences in the points of view of the characters and the audience or reader (e.g., created through the use of dramatic irony) create such effects as suspense or humor.
Common Core RL.8.6
RL.8.7
Judge how closely a film or stage version of a story follows the text, and weigh the choices the director or actors made.
Official wording
Analyze the extent to which a filmed or live production of a story or drama stays faithful to or departs from the text or script, evaluating the choices made by the director or actors.
Common Core RL.8.7
RL.8.9
Show how a modern novel reuses a theme, plot pattern or character type from a myth, folk tale or the Bible, and how it makes it new.
Official wording
Analyze how a modern work of fiction draws on themes, patterns of events, or character types from myths, traditional stories, or religious works such as the Bible, including describing how the material is rendered new.
Common Core RL.8.9
RL.8.10
Read stories, plays and poems at the top of the grades 6 to 8 level on your own by the end of the year.
Official wording
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.
Common Core RL.8.10

Reading Standards for Informational Text

10 standards
RI.8.1
Quote the lines from a story, play or poem that prove a point about it best, including points the text only implies.
Official wording
Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
Common Core RL.8.1
RI.8.2
Find an article's central idea, trace how the supporting ideas build it across the text, and summarize it without opinion.
Official wording
Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to supporting ideas; provide an objective summary of the text.
Common Core RI.8.2
RI.8.3
Explain how a nonfiction writer connects people, ideas or events or sets them apart, say by comparing them or sorting them into groups.
Official wording
Analyze how a text makes connections among and distinctions between individuals, ideas, or events (e.g., through comparisons, analogies, or categories).
Common Core RI.8.3
RI.8.4
Work out figurative, emotional and technical meanings in nonfiction, and explain how word choices like an analogy or a reference to another text affect meaning and tone.
RI.8.5
Take one paragraph apart and explain the job each sentence does in building and sharpening a key idea.
Official wording
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.
Common Core RI.8.5
RI.8.6
Find the author's point of view or purpose, and explain how the author deals with evidence and viewpoints that cut against it.
Official wording
Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how the author acknowledges and responds to conflicting evidence or viewpoints.
Common Core RI.8.6
RI.8.7
Weigh the pros and cons of presenting a topic in print, in a video or on a web page with mixed media.
Official wording
Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of using different mediums (e.g., print or digital text, video, multimedia) to present a particular topic or idea.
Common Core RI.8.7
RI.8.8
Lay out a text's argument and its claims, judge whether the reasoning holds and the evidence is enough, and spot evidence that is off topic.
Official wording
Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; recognize when irrelevant evidence is introduced.
Common Core RI.8.8
RI.8.9
Compare two or more texts that disagree about the same topic and pinpoint where they differ on facts or on how to read the facts.
Official wording
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.
Common Core RI.8.9
RI.8.10
Read literary nonfiction, like memoirs and speeches, at the top of the grades 6 to 8 level on your own by the end of the year.
Official wording
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.
Common Core RI.8.10

Writing Standards

10 standards
W.8.1
Write an argument with a clear claim, reasons and evidence from credible sources, linking words, a formal style and a conclusion that follows from it.
Official wording
Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.aIntroduce claim(s), acknowledge and distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and organize the reasons and evidence logically.bSupport claim(s) with logical reasoning and relevant evidence, using accurate, credible sources and demonstrating an understanding of the topic or text.cUse words, phrases, and clauses to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.dEstablish and maintain a formal style.eProvide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argument presented.
Common Core W.6.1
W.8.2
Write to inform, including career pieces like a business letter or job application, with a clear thesis, organized sections, facts, precise words and a solid ending.
W.8.3
Write a true or made-up story that sets the scene, uses dialogue, pacing and sensory detail, moves clearly through time and ends with a fitting conclusion.
Official wording
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.aEngage and orient the reader by establishing a context and point of view and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally and logically.bUse narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, description, and reflection, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.cUse a variety of transition words, phrases, and clauses to convey sequence, signal shifts from one time frame or setting to another, and show the relationships among experiences and events.dUse precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to capture the action and convey experiences and events.eProvide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on the narrated experiences or events.
Common Core W.6.3
W.8.4
Match how a piece of writing is developed, organized and styled to its task, its purpose and the people who will read it.
Official wording
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1–3 above.)
Common Core W.6.4
W.8.5
With some help from peers and adults, plan, revise, edit, rewrite or rethink a draft, checking how well it serves its purpose and readers and using 8th grade grammar.
W.8.6
Use a computer and the internet to write, publish and share work, showing how ideas connect, and to work with others on it.
Official wording
Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present the relationships between information and ideas efficiently as well as to interact and collaborate with others.
Common Core W.8.6
W.8.7
Run a short research project on a question, including one you came up with, using several sources and raising new focused questions along the way.
Official wording
Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration.
Common Core W.8.7
W.8.8
Pick good search terms to find print and online sources, check each for accuracy and reliability, and quote or paraphrase it with a citation in a format like MLA.
Official wording
Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.
Common Core W.7.8
W.8.9
Use evidence from stories and informational texts in writing, like details that show a character in depth or the reasons an author gives for a point.
Official wording
Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.aApply grade 8 Reading standards to literature (e.g., “Analyze how a modern work of fiction draws on themes, patterns of events, or character types from myths, traditional stories, or religious works such as the Bible, including describing how the material is rendered new”).bApply grade 8 Reading standards to literary nonfiction (e.g., “Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; recognize when irrelevant evidence is introduced”).
Common Core W.4.9
W.8.10
Write regularly, from a report built over several days to a journal entry finished in one class, for different subjects, purposes and readers.
Official wording
Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Common Core W.3.10

Speaking and Listening Standards

6 standards
SL.8.1
Come prepared to a discussion with evidence, follow the group's rules and roles, link speakers' ideas with questions, and adjust your view when the evidence warrants.
Official wording
Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.aCome to discussions prepared, having read or researched material under study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence on the topic, text, or issue to probe and reflect on ideas under discussion.bFollow rules for collegial discussions and decision-making, track progress toward specific goals and deadlines, and define individual roles as needed.cPose questions that connect the ideas of several speakers and respond to others’ questions and comments with relevant evidence, observations, and ideas.dAcknowledge new information expressed by others, and, when warranted, qualify or justify their own views in light of the evidence presented.
Common Core SL.8.1
SL.8.2
Analyze why information is presented in a chart, video or speech, and judge the social, commercial or political motive behind it.
Official wording
Analyze the purpose of information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and evaluate the motives (e.g., social, commercial, political) behind its presentation.
Common Core SL.8.2
SL.8.3
Break down a speaker's argument, judge whether the reasoning holds and the evidence is enough, and catch evidence that is beside the point.
Official wording
Delineate a speaker’s argument and specific claims, evaluating the soundness of the reasoning and relevance and sufficiency of the evidence and identifying when irrelevant evidence is introduced.
Common Core SL.8.3
SL.8.4
Give focused, well-reasoned talks like arguments and literary responses with clear delivery, including a planned narrative using dialogue, pacing and a reflective end.
SL.8.5
Add slides, images or video to a presentation where they make the information clearer, strengthen the evidence or add interest.
Official wording
Integrate multimedia and visual displays into presentations to clarify information, strengthen claims and evidence, and add interest.
Common Core SL.8.5
SL.8.6
Shift their speaking style for different settings and tasks, and handle formal English with skill when expected, like in a mock trial or a job interview.

Language Standards

6 standards
L.8.1
Print many letters, use everyday nouns, verbs and little words like in and on, make plurals like dogs and wishes, ask with who and where, and speak in full sentences.
Official wording
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.aExplain the function of verbals (gerunds, participles, infinitives) in general and their function in particular sentences.bForm and use verbs in the active and passive voice.cForm and use verbs in the indicative, imperative, interrogative, conditional, and subjunctive mood.dRecognize and correct inappropriate shifts in verb voice and mood.*
Common Core L.K.1
L.8.2
Capitalize the first word of a sentence and the word I, name the period and question mark, and spell simple words the way they sound, like kat for cat.
Official wording
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.aUse punctuation (comma, ellipsis, dash) to indicate a pause or break.bUse an ellipsis to indicate an omission.cSpell correctly.
Common Core L.K.2
L.8.3
Notice the difference between formal and casual English, like Good morning, Mrs. Lee versus Hey, and choose which fits the moment.
Official wording
Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.aUse verbs in the active and passive voice and in the conditional and subjunctive mood to achieve particular effects (e.g., emphasizing the actor or the action; expressing uncertainty or describing a state contrary to fact).
Common Core L.2.3
L.8.4
Work out an unfamiliar 8th-grade word from context, from Greek and Latin roots like precede and recede, or from a dictionary, then check the guess.
Official wording
Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words or phrases based on grade 8 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.aUse context (e.g., the overall meaning of a sentence or paragraph; a word’s position or function in a sentence) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.bUse common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., precede, recede, secede).dVerify the preliminary determination of the meaning of a word or phrase (e.g., by checking the inferred meaning in context or in a dictionary).
Common Core L.8.4
L.8.5
Explain a nonliteral phrase like take steps, name someone who is friendly to link a word to real life, and rank knew, believed and suspected by how sure they are.
Official wording
Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.aInterpret figures of speech (e.g. verbal irony, puns) in context.bUse the relationship between particular words to better understand each of the words.cDistinguish among the connotations (associations) of words with similar denotations (definitions) (e.g., bullheaded, willful, firm, persistent, resolute).
Common Core L.3.5
L.8.6
Learn and use grade-level academic and subject words, and look up any word that matters to understanding or expressing an idea.
Official wording
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.
Common Core L.6.6

The official California documents

Common Core State Standards © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.

The plain-English lines are EMStudio's own explanations. Where California uses the Common Core wording it is shown under the Common Core license; California's own additions are explained in our words, and their official wording is in California Department of Education's documents above.