Essential Questions
1st nine weeks
ELA Common Core Standards
How can you identify and use various
types of nouns in writing? (0801.1.1)
L.8.1.b - Form and use verbs in the
active and passive voice.
How can you identify and use various
types of pronouns in writing?
(0801.1.1)
L.8.1.b - Form and use verbs in the
active and passive voice.
How can you identify and use various
types of verbs in writing? (0801.1.2)
L.8.1.b- Form and use verbs in the
active and passive voice.
L.8.1.d - Recognize and correct
inappropriate shifts in verb voice and
mood.*
What is the difference between regular
and irregular verbs? (0801.1.2)
L.8.3.a - Use verbs in the active and
passive voice and in the conditional
and subjunctive mood to achieve
particular effects (e.g., emphasizing the
actor or the action; expressing
uncertainty or describing a state
contrary to fact).
L.8.1.b - Form and use verbs in the
active and passive voice.
L.8.1.d - Recognize and correct
inappropriate shifts in verb voice and
mood.*
L.8.3.a - Use verbs in the active and
passive voice and in the conditional
and subjunctive mood to achieve
particular effects (e.g., emphasizing the
actor or the action; expressing
uncertainty or describing a state
contrary to fact).
How do you make subjects and verbs
agree? (0801.1.2)
L.8.1.b - Form and use verbs in the
active and passive voice.
L.8.1.d - Recognize and correct
inappropriate shifts in verb voice and
mood.*
How can you identify and use various
types of conjunctions in writing?
(0801.1.4)
How do you use commas correctly in
writing? (0801.1.6)
What are some ways to combine
sentences? (0801.1.7)
What are some ways to correct run-on
sentences? (0801.1.8)
L.8.1.b - Form and use verbs in the
active and passive voice.
L.8.1.d - Recognize and correct
inappropriate shifts in verb voice and
mood.*
L.8.2.a - Use punctuation (comma,
ellipsis, dash) to indicate a pause or
break.
L.8.2.a - Use punctuation (comma,
ellipsis, dash) to indicate a pause or
break.
L.8.2.b - Use an ellipsis to indicate an
omission.
L.8.1 - Demonstrate command of the
grammar and usage when writing or
speaking.
How do you make pronoun and their
antecedents agree? (0801.1.11)
L.8.1.b - Form and use verbs in the
active and passive voice.
How do you use pronoun case
correctly? (0801.1.11)
L.8.1.b- Form and use verbs in the
active and passive voice.
What are the four purposes for writing?
(0801.3.1)
How can we identify the target
audience for a selected passage?
(0801.3.2)
How do you select an appropriate
thesis statement for a writing sample?
(0801.3.3)
How do you choose supporting
sentences that best fit the context and
flow of ideas in a paragraph?
(0801.3.6)
What would make sentences irrelevant
to a paragraph’s theme or flow?
(0801.3.7)
What are some different types of
graphic organizers and how can they
help us with writing? (0801.3.12)
Essential Questions
2nd nine weeks
ELA Common Core Standards
What is a direct/indirect object?
(0801.1.1)
L.8.1 - Demonstrate command of the
grammar and usage when writing or
speaking.
What is a predicate noun/adjective?
(0801.1.1)
L.8.1.c - Form and use verbs in the
indicative, imperative, interrogative,
conditional, and subjunctive mood.
L.8.1.d - Recognize and correct
inappropriate shifts in verb voice and
mood.*
How should you use tense consistency
in writing? (0801.1.2)
How can you identify and use various
types of adjectives in writing?
(0801.1.3)
How can you identify and use adverbs
to enhance writing? (0801.1.3)
How do you recognize usage errors in
writing? (0801.1.14)
When do you underline/italicize titles,
specific words, numbers, letters, and
figures? (0801.1.15)
How do you rearrange multi-paragraph
work in a logical and coherent order?
(0801.3.4)
What are some appropriate time-order
or transitional words/phrases to
enhance the flow of writing? (0801.3.5)
How do you select vivid words to
L.8.3.a - Use verbs in the active and
passive voice and in the conditional
and subjunctive mood to achieve
particular effects (e.g., emphasizing the
actor or the action; expressing
uncertainty or describing a state
contrary to fact).
L.8.3.a- Use verbs in the active and
passive voice and in the conditional
and subjunctive mood to achieve
particular effects (e.g., emphasizing the
actor or the action; expressing
uncertainty or describing a state
contrary to fact).
L.8.1 -Demonstrate command of the
grammar and usage when writing or
speaking.
strengthen a description within a writing
sample or passage? (0801.3.8)
How do you use illustrations,
explanations, anecdotes, descriptions,
and/or facts to support key ideas?
(0801.3.9)
How do you select an appropriate title
that reflects the topic of a written
selection? (0801.3.10)
Essential Questions
3rd Nine Weeks
ELA Common Core Standards
How can you identify and use
interjections in writing? (0801.1.4)
L.8.1.d -Recognize and correct
inappropriate shifts in verb voice and
mood.*
What is a direct/indirect object?
(0801.1.1)
L.8.1 -Demonstrate command of the
grammar and usage when writing or
speaking.
What is a predicate noun/adjective?
(0801.1.1)
L.8.1.c -Form and use verbs in the
indicative, imperative, interrogative,
conditional, and subjunctive mood.
L.8.2 -Demonstrate command of the
capitalization, punctuation, and spelling
when writing.
How do you spell words correctly within
a text? (0801.1.12)
How do you form singular and plural
possessives using an apostrophe?
(0801.1.4)
How do you use context clues to
determine the meaning of unfamiliar
words? (0801.8.12)
L.8.2.c –Spell correctly.
L.8.1 -Demonstrate command of the
grammar and usage when writing or
speaking.
L.8.4.a -Use context (e.g., the overall
meaning of a sentence or paragraph; a
word’s position or function in a
sentence) as a clue to the meaning of a
word or phrase.
L.8.4.d -Verify the preliminary
determination of the meaning of a word
or phrase (e.g., by checking the
inferred meaning in context or in a
dictionary).
L.8.5.b -Use the relationship between
particular words to better understand
each of the words.
L.8.6 -Acquire and use accurately
grade-appropriate general academic
and domain-specific words and
phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge
when considering a word or phrase
How do you choose the correct
meaning/usage of multi-usage words?
(0801.1.14)
important to comprehension or
expression.
L.8.3-Use knowledge of language and
its conventions when writing, speaking,
reading, or listening.
L.8.4 -Determine or clarify the meaning
of unknown and multiple-meaning
words or phrases based on grade 8
reading and content, choosing flexibly
from a range of strategies.
L.8.5 -Demonstrate understanding of
figurative language, word relationships,
and nuances in word meanings.
How do you use knowledge of roots
and affixes to determine the meaning
of unfamiliar words? (0801.1.13)
How do you identify commonly used
foreign words and phrases?
(0801.1.17)
How do you identify and use gerunds
and gerund phrases in writing?
(0801.1.9)
How do you identify participles and
participial phrases in writing?
(0801.1.9)
L.8.6 -Acquire and use accurately
grade-appropriate general academic
and domain-specific words and
phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge
when considering a word or phrase
important to comprehension or
expression.
L.8.4.b- Use common, gradeappropriate Greek or Latin affixes and
roots as clues to the meaning of a word
(e.g., precede, recede, secede).
L.8.5.b -Use the relationship between
particular words to better understand
each of the words.
L.8.6 -Acquire and use accurately
grade-appropriate general academic
and domain-specific words and
phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge
when considering a word or phrase
important to comprehension or
expression.
L.8.1.a -Explain the function of verbals
(gerunds, participles, infinitives) in
general and their function in particular
sentences.
L.8.1.a -Explain the function of verbals
(gerunds, participles, infinitives) in
general and their function in particular
sentences.
How do you identify appositives in
writing? (0801.1.10)
L.8.1.c- Form and use verbs in the
indicative, imperative, interrogative,
conditional, and subjunctive mood.
L.8.1.d -Recognize and correct
inappropriate shifts in verb voice and
mood.*
L.8.2.a -Use punctuation (comma,
ellipsis, dash) to indicate a pause or
break.
How can you determine the difference
between a noun clause, adjective
clause, and adverb clause? (0801.1.7)
L.8.2.b -Use an ellipsis to indicate an
omission.
L.8.1.a -Explain the function of verbals
(gerunds, participles, infinitives) in
general and their function in particular
sentences.
Essential Questions
4th Nine Weeks
ELA Common Core Standards
How do you collect evidence in
research in various formats?
(0801.4.10)
L.8.4.c -Consult general and
specialized reference materials (e.g.,
dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses),
both print and digital, to find the
pronunciation of a word or determine or
clarify its precise meaning or its part of
speech.
How do you deliver an effective oral
presentation? (0801.2.6)
How do you successfully participate in
work teams and group discussions?
(0801.2.7)
How do you construct an effective
critique of a speech? (0801.2.6)