Pennsylvania Standards
Pennsylvania 8th Grade ELA Standards
All 54 Pennsylvania English language arts standards for 8th grade, each explained in plain English. The official wording is in Pennsylvania Department of Education's document, linked at the end of this page.
54 standards
Reading Informational Text
12 standardsCC.1.2.8.A
Find an article's central idea, trace how the supporting ideas build it across the text, and summarize it without opinion.
CC.1.2.8.B
Choose the strongest passages from a nonfiction text to support an analysis of what it states directly and the inferences and conclusions you draw.
CC.1.2.8.C
Analyze how a nonfiction text links and separates people, ideas or events, like through comparisons, analogies or categories.
CC.1.2.8.D
Find the author's point of view or purpose, and explain how the author deals with evidence and viewpoints that cut against it.
CC.1.2.8.E
Analyze how particular sentences and paragraphs in a nonfiction text build and sharpen a key concept, and judge how well they do it.
CC.1.2.8.F
Analyze how word choices in nonfiction, including figurative, emotionally loaded and technical terms, shape what a text means and the tone it takes.
CC.1.2.8.G
Weigh the pros and cons of presenting a topic in print, in a video or on a web page with mixed media.
CC.1.2.8.H
Test an author's argument claim by claim, judging whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence relevant, like spotting a statistic that proves nothing.
CC.1.2.8.I
Analyze two or more texts that give conflicting accounts of one topic and pinpoint where they disagree on the facts or on how to read them.
CC.1.2.8.J
Learn and use grade-level academic and subject words, and look up any word that matters to understanding or expressing an idea.
CC.1.2.8.K
Work out unknown or multiple-meaning words in eighth-grade nonfiction with the right strategy, like context, roots such as cede in precede, or a dictionary.
CC.1.2.8.L
Read and understand eighth-grade nonfiction, like editorials, historical accounts and technical writing, on your own and with skill.
Reading Literature
11 standardsCC.1.3.8.A
Find a story's theme, trace how the characters, setting and plot build it, and sum the story up without taking sides.
CC.1.3.8.B
Pick the lines from a story or poem that best support your reading of it, both what it states outright and what you infer or conclude.
CC.1.3.8.C
Explain how one line of dialogue or one event moves the plot along, shows what a character is like, or pushes a decision.
CC.1.3.8.D
Explain how a gap between what a character knows and what the reader knows, like dramatic irony, builds suspense or humor.
CC.1.3.8.E
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.
CC.1.3.8.F
Analyze how figurative language and the emotional weight of words in a story or poem shape its meaning and tone, like making it sound bitter or hopeful.
CC.1.3.8.G
Analyze how closely a film or stage version of a story or play follows the original text, and judge the choices its directors and actors made.
CC.1.3.8.H
Analyze how a modern novel borrows themes, plot patterns or character types from myths or traditional stories, and describe what makes the retelling fresh.
CC.1.3.8.I
Figure out unknown or multiple-meaning words in an eighth-grade story or play by drawing on context, prefixes and roots, a glossary or a dictionary as needed.
CC.1.3.8.J
Learn and use grade-level academic and subject words, and look up any word that matters to understanding or expressing an idea.
CC.1.3.8.K
Read eighth-grade fiction, from mysteries to historical novels, on your own and understand it fully.
Writing
24 standardsCC.1.4.8.A
Write informative pieces that investigate a topic and explain its ideas and facts clearly, like a report on the causes of the Civil War.
CC.1.4.8.B
Introduce a report's topic plainly and tell readers up front what the piece will cover, like a short roadmap in the opening paragraph.
CC.1.4.8.C
Support a topic with carefully chosen facts, definitions, details, quotations and examples, and add visuals or media when they make the ideas easier to grasp.
CC.1.4.8.D
Group ideas and information into larger categories, connect them with varied transitions so the piece holds together, use formatting where helpful, and conclude.
CC.1.4.8.E
Write explanations in a formal style, using exact words and subject terms to set the tone and voice, and varying sentence length and complexity.
CC.1.4.8.F
Use correct eighth-grade grammar, capitalization, punctuation and spelling in reports, like handling verbals such as gerunds and infinitives correctly.
CC.1.4.8.G
Write arguments that make a case and defend it, like an editorial on whether the town should build a skate park.
CC.1.4.8.H
Lead into an argument by setting up the issue and declaring your position in a clear opening statement.
CC.1.4.8.I
Set your claim apart from opposing views and back it with logical reasoning and relevant evidence from accurate, reliable sources that show you know the topic.
CC.1.4.8.J
Organize an argument so claims, counterclaims, reasons and evidence connect clearly through linking words and clauses, ending with a conclusion that backs the case.
CC.1.4.8.K
Argue in a formal style, letting precise word choice set a confident tone and voice, with topic vocabulary and sentences of varied length and structure.
CC.1.4.8.L
Edit arguments to eighth-grade standards for grammar, capitalization, punctuation and spelling, like using an ellipsis to show words left out of a quotation.
CC.1.4.8.M
Write narratives, real or invented, that develop experiences or events, like a story about a storm told by a lighthouse keeper.
CC.1.4.8.N
Draw the reader into a story by setting the scene, making clear whose point of view it follows, and bringing in the narrator and characters.
CC.1.4.8.O
Develop a story with dialogue, description, reflection and pacing, and use vivid wording and sensory details that capture the action and the experience.
CC.1.4.8.P
Arrange a story's events in a natural order, use varied transitions to mark time or place shifts and show how events connect, and end by reflecting on them.
CC.1.4.8.Q
Craft a story's style with active or passive verbs, conditional or subjunctive moods like if I were you, varied sentences, and word choices that set tone and voice.
CC.1.4.8.R
Proofread stories for eighth-grade grammar, capitalization, punctuation and spelling, like fixing a sentence that shifts verb voice or mood by mistake.
CC.1.4.8.S
Draw on evidence from novels, poems and nonfiction to support analysis, reflection and research in writing, using eighth-grade reading skills.
CC.1.4.8.T
Plan, revise, edit and rewrite a history or science paper with some help from classmates and teachers, checking that it serves its purpose and readers.
CC.1.4.8.U
Use a computer and the internet to write, publish and share work, showing how ideas connect, and to work with others on it.
CC.1.4.8.V
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.
CC.1.4.8.W
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.
CC.1.4.8.X
Write regularly, from a report built over several days to a journal entry finished in one class, for different subjects, purposes and readers.
Speaking and Listening
7 standardsCC.1.5.8.A
Participate in partner, group and class discussions on eighth-grade issues and texts, extending others' ideas and expressing your own clearly.
CC.1.5.8.B
Outline a speaker's argument and each claim in it, then judge whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is both on point and enough to prove the claim.
CC.1.5.8.C
Analyze why information is presented in a video, chart, image or speech and judge the motives behind it, like selling a product or winning votes.
CC.1.5.8.D
Present a claim and findings in a focused order with evidence, sound reasoning and well-chosen details, speaking clearly, loudly enough and with eye contact.
CC.1.5.8.E
Change your speaking style to suit the audience and task, like speaking formally at a student council meeting and casually with classmates.
CC.1.5.8.F
Build images, video, audio or charts into a presentation so they make it more engaging, clarify the information and strengthen your claims.
CC.1.5.8.G
Use correct eighth-grade grammar when speaking, like choosing the active voice to make clear who did what in a formal talk.
The official Pennsylvania documents
- Pennsylvania Core Standards for English Language Arts and Mathematics · adopted February 2014 · since March 2014
The plain-English lines on this page are EMStudio's own explanations of Pennsylvania's standards, not the official wording, which Pennsylvania Department of Education publishes in the documents above. Codes and strand names identify each standard.