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Ohio Standards

Ohio 8th Grade ELA Standards

All 45 Ohio English language arts standards for 8th grade, each explained in plain English. The official wording is in Ohio Department of Education and Workforce's document, linked at the end of this page.

45 standards

Reading Literature

9 standards
RL.8.1
Choose the strongest quoted or paraphrased evidence to back your analysis of what a story says outright and what it suggests.
RL.8.2
Determine a theme of a story, analyze how it grows through the characters, setting, and plot, and summarize the text objectively, tying the theme to those elements.
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.
Common Core RL.8.3
RL.8.4
Interpret figurative and connotative language in a story or poem and analyze how word choices, like analogies or allusions to other works, shape meaning, mood, and tone.
RL.8.5
Compare how two or more stories or poems are structured and analyze how each structure shapes the work's meaning and style.
RL.8.6
Analyze how gaps between what characters know and what the reader knows, like dramatic irony, build effects such as suspense or humor.
RL.8.7
Judge how closely a film or live production of a story or play follows the text or script, and evaluate the choices the director or actors made.
RL.8.9
Analyze how a modern novel or story borrows themes, plots, or character types from myths, traditional tales, or religious texts, and how it makes that material new.
RL.8.10
Read and understand eighth grade literature, with support as needed, connecting it to your own life, other texts, or the world.

Reading Informational

10 standards
RI.8.1
Pick the strongest quoted or paraphrased evidence to support your analysis of what a nonfiction text states and what can be inferred from it.
RI.8.2
Identify two or more central ideas in a nonfiction text, analyze how they develop alongside supporting ideas, and summarize them objectively.
RI.8.3
Analyze how a nonfiction text links and separates people, ideas, or events, like through comparisons, analogies, or categories.
RI.8.4
Interpret figurative, connotative, and technical language in a nonfiction text and analyze how word choices, including analogies and allusions, shape meaning and tone.
RI.8.5
Analyze how one paragraph in a nonfiction text is built, including how specific sentences and text features develop and sharpen a key concept.
RI.8.6
Identify an author's viewpoint or purpose in a nonfiction text and analyze how the author answers conflicting evidence or opposing views.
RI.8.7
Weigh the pros and cons of presenting a topic or idea in print, digital text, audio, video, or multimedia.
RI.8.8
Evaluate an author's argument by pinpointing claims, judging the soundness of the reasoning, checking evidence is relevant and enough, and spotting irrelevant evidence.
RI.8.9
Analyze where two or more nonfiction texts on one topic give conflicting information and whether they disagree on facts or on interpretation.
RI.8.10
Read and understand eighth grade nonfiction, with support as needed, connecting it to personal experience, other reading, and the world.

Reading Foundations

2 standards
RF.8.3
Decode complex words through roots, prefixes, suffixes, and word history, know common Latin and Greek word parts, and read frequent words like average without sounding out.
RF.8.4
Read eighth grade texts aloud at 146 or more words correct per minute with at least 95 percent accuracy and fitting expression, rereading whenever meaning breaks down.

Writing Foundations

2 standards
WF.8.1
Handwrite legibly in print or cursive at a speed that supports extended writing and note taking.
WF.8.2
Spell multisyllabic and unfamiliar words using syllable patterns, division rules, spelling generalizations, and word parts, and spell eighth grade irregular words correctly.

Writing

10 standards
W.8.1
Write an argument with a clear thesis, organized claims that address opposing views, logical reasons and accurate evidence, cohesive transitions, and a supporting conclusion.
W.8.2
Write an informative piece with a previewing thesis, facts and examples grouped into broad categories, a clear structure, varied transitions, credible sources, and a strong conclusion.
W.8.3
Write a real or imagined narrative with an engaging opening, dialogue, pacing, and sensory detail, transitions that show how events connect, and a reflective ending.
W.8.4
Produce clear, logically connected writing whose ideas and structure match the assignment, its purpose, and its readers.
W.8.5
Plan, revise, and edit your writing with fading adult support and feedback from peers or adults, improving clarity, organization, and conventions like capitalization.
W.8.6
Use digital skills and tools to publish writing, show efficiently how pieces of information connect, and collaborate with others.
W.8.7
Research independently to answer a question, including one you pose, using credible sources, recording and weighing relevant evidence, and forming follow-up questions.
W.8.8
Find information with effective searches, assess each source's credibility and accuracy, quote or paraphrase others correctly, and cite sources in a standard format.
W.8.9
Use evidence from eighth grade stories, poems, and nonfiction to strengthen your analysis, elaboration, reflection, and research writing.
W.8.10
Write on a regular schedule, in single sittings and across longer stretches, planning, drafting, and revising for varied subjects, purposes, and audiences.

Speaking and Listening

6 standards
SL.8.1
Join discussions prepared, track group goals, answer others with evidence, ask questions that connect several speakers' ideas, and qualify or defend your views based on evidence.
SL.8.2
Analyze why information is presented in videos, audio, primary sources, or charts, and evaluate the social, commercial, or political motives behind it.
SL.8.3
Break down a speaker's argument and claims, testing the reasoning and the evidence for relevance, accuracy, and sufficiency, and flag any irrelevant evidence.
SL.8.4
Present claims and findings in a focused way that stresses key points, backed by evidence and sound reasoning, with eye contact, enough volume, and clear pacing.
SL.8.5
Build multimedia and visual displays into presentations to clarify information, strengthen claims and evidence, and keep listeners interested.
SL.8.6
Adapt how you speak to the context and task, showing a solid command of formal language when it is called for.

Language

6 standards
L.8.1
Explain what gerunds, participles, and infinitives do, use active and passive voice and verb moods like the conditional and subjunctive, and fix unneeded shifts.
L.8.2
Use commas, ellipses, and dashes to show a pause or break, use an ellipsis to mark left-out words, and spell accurately using phonics and word parts.
L.8.3
Notice the difference between formal and casual English, like Good morning, Mrs. Lee versus Hey, and choose which fits the moment.
Common Core L.2.3
L.8.4
Work out unknown or multiple-meaning words using context, Greek and Latin roots like port in transport, and dictionaries to check meaning, part of speech, and pronunciation.
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.
Common Core L.3.5
L.8.6
Use conversational, academic, and subject-specific words fit for eighth grade, picked up through reading, writing, listening, and speaking.

The official Ohio documents

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