8th Grade English Language Arts and Reading (Texas TEKS)

110.24(b)(1) Developing and sustaining foundational language skills: listening, speaking, discussion, and thinking--oral language

• 110.24(b)(1) Student builds oral language skills through listening, speaking, and discussion.
• 110.24(b)(1)(A) Listen actively to interpret messages by summarizing, questioning, and commenting.
• 110.24(b)(1)(B) Follow and give complex oral directions for tasks, answers, or problem-solving.
• 110.24(b)(1)(C) Argue a position with anecdotes, analogies, or illustrations, using effective delivery and language conventions.
• 110.24(b)(1)(D) Collaborate in discussions: plan agendas and deadlines, limit speaking time, take notes, and vote.

110.24(b)(2) Developing and sustaining foundational language skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking--vocabulary

• 110.24(b)(2) Student uses newly learned vocabulary expressively and in context.
• 110.24(b)(2)(A) Use print or digital resources to find meaning, syllables, pronunciation, origin, and part of speech.
• 110.24(b)(2)(B) Use context within or beyond a paragraph to clarify unfamiliar or ambiguous words.
• 110.24(b)(2)(C) Determine meaning and usage of grade-level academic words from Greek and Latin roots.

110.24(b)(3) Developing and sustaining foundational language skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking--fluency

• 110.24(b)(3) Adjust reading fluency for grade-level text depending on the reading purpose.

110.24(b)(4) Developing and sustaining foundational language skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking--self-sustained reading

• 110.24(b)(4) Choose own grade-appropriate texts and read independently for sustained periods.

110.24(b)(5) Comprehension skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts

• 110.24(b)(5) Comprehension skills using multiple texts: purpose, questioning, predicting, inferring, and self-monitoring.
• 110.24(b)(5)(A) Set a purpose for reading both assigned and self-selected texts.
• 110.24(b)(5)(B) Generate questions before, during, and after reading to deepen understanding.
• 110.24(b)(5)(C) Make predictions, then confirm or correct them using text features and genre.
• 110.24(b)(5)(D) Create mental images to deepen understanding of the text.
• 110.24(b)(5)(E) Connect the text to personal experiences, other texts, and society.
• 110.24(b)(5)(F) Make inferences and support understanding with textual evidence.
• 110.24(b)(5)(G) Evaluate details to determine key ideas.
• 110.24(b)(5)(H) Synthesize information to create new understanding.
• 110.24(b)(5)(I) Monitor comprehension and adjust through rereading, background knowledge, questions, and annotating.

110.24(b)(6) Response skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts

• 110.24(b)(6) Responding to increasingly challenging sources through connections, writing, summaries, evidence, and reflection.
• 110.24(b)(6)(A) Describe personal connections to varied sources, including self-selected texts.
• 110.24(b)(6)(B) Write responses showing understanding, including comparisons within and across genres.
• 110.24(b)(6)(C) Use text evidence to support an appropriate response.
• 110.24(b)(6)(D) Paraphrase and summarize texts while maintaining meaning and logical order.
• 110.24(b)(6)(E) Interact with sources through notetaking, annotating, freewriting, or illustrating.
• 110.24(b)(6)(F) Use newly acquired vocabulary in responses as appropriate.
• 110.24(b)(6)(G) Discuss and write about explicit and implicit meanings of texts.
• 110.24(b)(6)(H) Respond with appropriate register, vocabulary, tone, and voice.
• 110.24(b)(6)(I) Reflect on and adjust responses as new evidence appears.
• 110.24(b)(6)(J) Defend or challenge authors' claims using relevant text evidence.

110.24(b)(7) Multiple genres: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts--literary elements

• 110.24(b)(7) Analyzing literary elements such as theme, character, plot structure, and setting across texts.
• 110.24(b)(7)(A) Analyze how characters and events develop themes.
• 110.24(b)(7)(B) Analyze how character motivations and behaviors shape events and conflict resolution.
• 110.24(b)(7)(C) Analyze nonlinear plot devices and compare them with linear plot development.
• 110.24(b)(7)(D) Explain how setting influences characters' values and beliefs.

110.24(b)(8) Multiple genres: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts--genres

• 110.24(b)(8) Analyzing genre characteristics, structures, and purposes across varied traditional and contemporary texts.
• 110.24(b)(8)(A) Show knowledge of literary genres such as mysteries, fantasy, and science fiction.
• 110.24(b)(8)(B) Analyze how punctuation and line length affect meaning in poems.
• 110.24(b)(8)(C) Analyze how playwrights develop dramatic action through acts and scenes.
• 110.24(b)(8)(D) Analyze informational text characteristics and structures.
• 110.24(b)(8)(D)(i) Identify the controlling idea or thesis and its supporting evidence.
• 110.24(b)(8)(D)(ii) Identify features such as footnotes, endnotes, and citations.
• 110.24(b)(8)(D)(iii) Identify multiple organizational patterns used to develop the thesis.
• 110.24(b)(8)(E) Analyze argumentative text characteristics and structures.
• 110.24(b)(8)(E)(i) Identify the claim and analyze the argument.
• 110.24(b)(8)(E)(ii) Identify and explain the counterargument.
• 110.24(b)(8)(E)(iii) Identify the intended audience or reader.
• 110.24(b)(8)(F) Analyze characteristics of multimodal and digital texts.

110.24(b)(9) Author's purpose and craft: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts

• 110.24(b)(9) Using critical inquiry to analyze how authors' choices shape meaning and inform one's own work.
• 110.24(b)(9)(A) Explain the author's purpose and message within a text.
• 110.24(b)(9)(B) Analyze how text structure contributes to the author's purpose.
• 110.24(b)(9)(C) Analyze how print and graphic features achieve specific purposes.
• 110.24(b)(9)(D) Describe how figurative language, such as extended metaphor, achieves purposes.
• 110.24(b)(9)(E) Identify and analyze literary devices, including multiple points of view and irony.
• 110.24(b)(9)(F) Analyze how language contributes to mood, voice, and tone.
• 110.24(b)(9)(G) Explain purposes of rhetorical devices and logical fallacies.

110.24(b)(10) Composition: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts--writing process

• 110.24(b)(10) Using the recursive writing process to compose legible, conventional texts.
• 110.24(b)(10)(A) Plan a first draft by choosing a genre suited to topic, purpose, and audience.
• 110.24(b)(10)(B) Develop drafts into focused, structured, coherent writing.
• 110.24(b)(10)(B)(i) Organize with purposeful structure, transitions, coherence, introduction, and conclusion.
• 110.24(b)(10)(B)(ii) Develop engaging ideas with specific facts, details, and examples.
• 110.24(b)(10)(C) Revise drafts for clarity, development, organization, style, word choice, and variety.
• 110.24(b)(10)(D) Edit drafts using standard English conventions.
• 110.24(b)(10)(D)(i) Use complete sentences with subject-verb agreement; avoid splices, run-ons, and fragments.
• 110.24(b)(10)(D)(ii) Use consistent verb tenses and active and passive voice appropriately.
• 110.24(b)(10)(D)(iii) Apply prepositional phrases correctly in subject-verb agreement.
• 110.24(b)(10)(D)(iv) Maintain pronoun-antecedent agreement.
• 110.24(b)(10)(D)(v) Use correct capitalization.
• 110.24(b)(10)(D)(vi) Use punctuation, including commas, semicolons, colons, and parentheses correctly.
• 110.24(b)(10)(D)(vii) Spell commonly confused terms correctly.
• 110.24(b)(10)(E) Publish written work for appropriate audiences.

110.24(b)(11) Composition: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts--genres

• 110.24(b)(11) Composing meaningful literary, informational, argumentative, and correspondence texts using genre craft.
• 110.24(b)(11)(A) Compose literary texts such as narratives, fiction, and poetry using genre craft.
• 110.24(b)(11)(B) Compose multi-paragraph informational essays with a clear thesis and genre craft.
• 110.24(b)(11)(C) Compose multi-paragraph argumentative texts using genre craft.
• 110.24(b)(11)(D) Compose correspondence expressing opinion, complaint, or information request.

110.24(b)(12) Inquiry and research: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts

• 110.24(b)(12) Conducting short and sustained inquiry, gathering and evaluating sources, and presenting ethically cited results.
• 110.24(b)(12)(A) Generate student-selected and teacher-guided questions for inquiry.
• 110.24(b)(12)(B) Develop and revise an inquiry plan.
• 110.24(b)(12)(C) Refine the major research question using answers to secondary questions.
• 110.24(b)(12)(D) Identify and gather relevant information from a variety of sources.
• 110.24(b)(12)(E) Differentiate between primary and secondary sources.
• 110.24(b)(12)(F) Synthesize information from a variety of sources.
• 110.24(b)(12)(G) Differentiate between paraphrasing and plagiarism when using sources.
• 110.24(b)(12)(H) Examine sources.
• 110.24(b)(12)(H)(i) Assess reliability, credibility, bias, and omission.
• 110.24(b)(12)(H)(ii) Identify faulty reasoning such as bandwagon appeals, repetition, and loaded language.
• 110.24(b)(12)(I) Display academic citations and use source materials ethically.
• 110.24(b)(12)(J) Present results in written, oral, or multimodal form.