Grade 8 Competencies

*Foundational Reading - Students will read to make meaning while flexibly using a variety of morphology strategies, to apply and extend literacy skills with fluency and independence at grade-level complexity. (Not identified beyond the 5/6 span, but continue to develop them with students who may need additional support.)

• Word study skills, fluency, read with purpose, infer, predict, self-monitor

Reading Literature - Students will comprehend and draw conclusions about the author’s intent when reading a variety of increasingly complex print and non-print literary texts, citing a range of relevant and compelling textual evidence to support their analyses.

• Text structures, character dialogue and interactions, literary elements, analyze two or more authors’ treatment of theme, historical/cultural contexts, flashback, foreshadowing, imagery

Reading Informational Text - Students will comprehend and draw conclusions about the author’s intent in a variety of increasingly complex print and non-print informational texts, citing a range of relevant and compelling textual evidence to support their analyses.

• Central idea, accuracy of content, theme, conclusions, two or more authors’ point of view/tone/interpretation of topic, compare information, message, text types

Speaking, Listening, and Language - Students will initiate and participate effectively in speaking-listening for a variety of purposes and audiences (e.g. informal discussions, formal presentations), responding respectfully and appropriately to diverse perspectives and expressing ideas clearly and purposefully.

• Use grade-appropriate grammar/mechanics when speaking, respond/elaborate with relevant ideas, oral presentations addressing audience/purpose, use visual/graphic/digital/audio enhancements to clarify message/intent, analyze/interpret/evaluate information delivered orally or visually.

Narrative Writing - Students will produce clear, coherent, and effective narrative writing for a range of types, purposes, and audiences (e.g., blogs, podcasts, graphic novels, narrative non-fiction).

• Text structures to establish context, Character development, setting, transitions, chronology, conflict resolution, point of view, theme, tone, style, dialogue, literary devices, figurative language, word choice, edit, revise, grammar/conventions

Informational Writing - Students will produce clear, coherent, and effective informative writing for a range of types, purposes, and audiences.

• Topic and focus, organize ideas, formal style, objective tone, relevant and/or conflicting information, evidence, summarize, conclusion, edit, revise, grammar/conventions

Opinion/Argument Writing - Students will produce clear, coherent, and effective argumentative writing for a range of text types, purposes, and audiences.

• Establish and support a claim, persuasive techniques, rhetorical devices, call to action, claims/counterclaims, relevant sources, diverse points of view, analyze evidence, logically connect reasons/facts, maintain authoritative stance, conclusions, edit, revise, grammar/conventions.

Inquiry, Investigation, and Research - Students will engage in group and individual research to investigate, analyze, integrate, and present information, demonstrating an understanding of the use of credible, relevant, and reliable sources.

• Analyze interrelationships among concepts, analyze sources, evaluate motives, strategically use language for audience/intent, select and cite evidence, integrate multi-media/visual displays, use digital tools and reference materials for interpretation and expansion of knowledge

Critical Inquiry & Analysis - Students will be able to analyze and use a variety of historical sources, documents, maps, and visuals and determine their credibility.

Research & Communication - Students will develop clear claims and counterclaims and use evidence from multiple sources to construct an argument.

Civics -  Students will explain and analyze the structure, roles, powers, responsibilities, and limits involved in the origin and evolution of a democratic republic.

Historical Events & Perspectives - Students will make connections between events and identify factors influencing change over time.

Number Systems - Students will expand their understanding of number systems thinking flexibly and attending to precision and reasonableness when solving problems using rational and irrational numbers.

Expressions & Equations - Students will reason abstractly and manipulate symbolic expressions to represent relationships and interpret expressions and equations in terms of a given context for determining an unknown value.

Geometry - Students will solve problems involving reasoning using properties of 2- and 3- dimensional shapes to analyze, represent, and model geometric relationships in pure/theoretical and authentic applied contexts.

Data, Statistics, & Probability  - Students will design investigations and conduct probability experiments involving populations.

Functions - Students will make use of structure to describe and compare situations that involve proportionality, change, or patterns and use the information to make conjectures and justify conclusions/solutions.

Patterns, Relations, and Functions - Students will make use of patterns, relations, and functions to interpret, compare, and analyze pure and applied situations, using the information to make conjectures, support conclusions and model real-world phenomena and distinguish the different situations that would utilize each type of function (linear, exponential, absolute value, piecewise, and quadratic)

Operations & Algebraic Thinking - Students will be able to solve linear and quadratic equations, inequalities, and systems of linear equations, and manipulate polynomial expressions using algebraic principles to arrive at accurate solutions and demonstrate conceptual understanding of these mathematical concepts in a real-world context.

Number & Quantity - Students will demonstrate proficiency in manipulating and applying radicals, exponent rules, scientific notation, and other math involving numbers and quantity. This includes simplifying expressions involving radicals, applying exponent rules to solve equations and simplify expressions, and expressing scientific notation for large and small values, as well as using this representation in calculations.

Data, Statistics, and Probability - Students will be able to analyze and interpret statistical data presented in scatter plots, create scatter plots from data, and apply measures of center and variability to describe and compare one and two-variable data sets.

Geometry - Students will solve problems involving reasoning using properties of 2- and 3- dimensional shapes to analyze, represent, and model geometric relationships in pure/theoretical and authentic applied contexts.
 

Forces - Students will explore how energy transfers during collisions, understanding the relationship between energy in motion (kinetic) and stored energy (potential). They'll build and improve models of forces, including magnetism, to understand and predict how objects interact in collisions and through magnetic attraction or repulsion.

Waves - Students develop ideas related to how energy waves are produced, how they travel through media, and how they affect objects at a distance.

Earth and Space - Students can explain the observed patterns of celestial phenomena, including the Sun's path, lunar phases, and eclipses, and analyze how these events influence Earth.

Genetics and Heredity - Students will be able to analyze the mechanisms of inheritance and genetic variation, including the role of mutations, and explain how these processes, combined with natural selection and common ancestry, drive the evolution of life on Earth.