Skip to main content
Colorado Standards

Colorado 8th Grade ELA Standards

All 10 Colorado English language arts standards for 8th grade, each explained in plain English. The official wording is in Colorado Department of Education's document, linked at the end of this page.

10 standards

Oral Expression and Listening

2 standards
RW.8.1.1
Lead prepared discussions toward group decisions, ask questions that connect several speakers' ideas, adjust or defend your view, weigh why media were made, and catch irrelevant evidence.
RW.8.1.2
Design focused, well-organized talks that stress key claims with sound evidence, weave in media that strengthen the message, and shift into formal English when the task requires it.

Reading for All Purposes

3 standards
RW.8.2.1
Evaluate fiction and drama by citing the strongest evidence, tracing a theme, showing how dialogue drives the plot, how dramatic irony builds suspense, and how modern stories borrow from myths.
RW.8.2.2
Evaluate nonfiction by citing the strongest evidence, analyzing a paragraph's structure and how authors answer opposing views, judging claims, and weighing texts that conflict on facts.
RW.8.2.3
Unlock words in complex texts using context, roots and reference tools, interpret verbal irony and puns, and weigh word shades, like stubborn versus determined.

Writing and Composition

4 standards
RW.8.3.1
Write a cohesive formal argument that sets your claim apart from opposing ones, backs it with logical reasons and credible evidence, links ideas clearly, and closes in support.
RW.8.3.2
Write a formal explanation that previews the topic, organizes ideas with headings, graphics or structures like classification, uses well-chosen facts and varied transitions, and concludes clearly.
RW.8.3.3
Write a real or imagined story with a clear point of view, dialogue, pacing and reflection, transitions that shift time and setting, figurative language, and a thoughtful ending.
RW.8.3.4
Produce polished final drafts by using verbals, active and passive voice and verb moods correctly, fixing shifts, and using commas, dashes and ellipses for pauses or omissions.

Research Inquiry and Design

1 standard
RW.8.4.1
Research questions including your own, search many sources with advanced terms, judge their credibility, quote or paraphrase with proper citations, and share findings clearly.

The official Colorado documents

The plain-English lines on this page are EMStudio's own explanations of Colorado's standards, not the official wording, which Colorado Department of Education publishes in the documents above. Codes and strand names identify each standard.