Common Core Standards

Grade 8

Writing W.8.2

Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.

Because students are about to enter high school, they need to have the whole process of writing an essay down pat. According to the Common Core, here's what it means to have the essay-writing process mastered:

1. Students should be able to write a good introduction that actually describes what they're going to be writing about and highlights some of the main points. They also should be able to organize their thoughts into something coherent.
2. Just like a house, an essay needs to have a solid foundation. In the case of an explanatory essay, a strong foundation consists of good facts and examples. Make sure students have those—they don't want their houses to crumble into sad-looking pieces of gingerbread, do they? (Hey, who said the house had to be wooden?)
3. If students cringe on the inside when they read the sentences "Bob waddled like a duck. Bob quacked like a duck. Bob flew like a duck. Bob was a duck" because they aren't connected by transitions, then they know that transitions are important in a good essay.
4. Just like what it says on the tin of the fourth sub-standard, students should be able to use their words properly. They should be aware that certain words mean different things in different context (such as the word "theory," which drives almost every scientist crazy).
5. Students shouldnt write lik this!!!! That's all the fifth sub-standard for this Common Core Standard says.
6. Time to hit the essay out of the park, and students can best do that by writing strong conclusions that sum up everything they've been trying to say and try to place the main ideas of their essays into the context of a wider discussion related to their main ideas. (For example, a conclusion for an essay about the battles of the Civil War might mention how the Civil War affected the course of America's history.)

Once students have learned how to properly write an informative/explanatory essay, they'll be ready for high school!

Standard Components

Example 1

Here's an example lesson to use when your students are reading To Kill a Mockingbird.

Have students take notes about the setting of Maycomb as they read the novel. In small groups, have the students draw out a map of the town based on descriptions and context clues they find from the text. Students should be able to support their final layout with an essay that uses examples from their reading.

Aligned Resources

Teacher Guides

More standards from Grade 8 - Writing

If I'd had to teach to the Common Core, I would have used Shmoop, too.

Aristotle

The observed gravitational effect between Common Core activities results from their warping of Shmooptime.