Eighth Grade - ELA
1: Semester 1
Unit 1: Abigail Adams
Lesson 1
Getting to Know Abigail Adams
Students are instructed to write letters (Option 1 and Option 2) and told to "please pay attention to spelling, grammar, and punctuation" and to have a parent review that each vocabulary term and punctuation are used correctly. The activities require students to produce written work (a 200–300 word letter in Option 2) in which they must edit and present vocabulary terms, implying use of standard punctuation. The reading passages and vocabulary example sentences also contain examples of punctuation (commas, semicolons, quotation marks) that students read.
Lesson 6
Separation
Students are asked to correct punctuation errors in the Paragraph Editing activity, and the Student Activity proofreading chart shows a mark and example for inserting a comma. The answer key explicitly identifies and explains a comma splice and gives options to fix it (period, semicolon, or replacing the comma). The editing task directs students to correct grammar, spelling, or punctuation and to consult editing symbols, implying practice with comma use.
Unit 2: Animal Farm
Lesson 4
Work on the Farm
Students practice punctuation in letter formats: the Friendly Letters page specifies that the greeting is followed by a comma and the closing is followed by a comma. The Business Letters materials show salutations using a colon and include an activity (Fixing a Business Letter) where students correct punctuation errors such as the salutation ending with a colon and "Cordially" followed by a comma. The Jumbled Business Letter and Fixing a Business Letter activities require students to place and correct punctuation as part of assembling or editing a formal letter.
Final Project
Animal Farm Letter
Students are asked to produce final drafts that demonstrate accurate spelling and the correct use of punctuation, capitalization, and format, and the rubric's Mechanics category explicitly evaluates punctuation and capitalization. Students are instructed to edit and revise their letters using an "Editing Symbols" page and to refer to a "Handy Guide to Writing," implying attention to punctuation during revision. Students are repeatedly prompted to check for grammar and punctuation errors during the editing and revising activities.
Unit 5: Elijah of Buxton
Lesson 2
The Preacher
Students are asked to complete a Sentence Editing activity in which they copy sentences and correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation. The Parent Plan supplies corrected versions that show students placing commas in complex and compound sentences (e.g., "If there were a horsefly..., we would all be worried..." and "Most folks say it's wrong, but I would ride..."). The activity directs students to perform punctuation corrections as part of their editing practice.
Lesson 3
Creating a Character
Students are asked to copy and correct sentences in the Sentence Editing activity, which requires them to add commas in a list ("I took my five fish, my fishing tools, and my pie...") and after an introductory clause ("Once I got home, I cleaned all five fish."). The Parent Plan provides the corrected versions, showing the comma placements students are expected to produce. Other text includes example dialogue and sentences that contain commas used to set off phrases.
Lesson 4
Tone and Mood
Students are asked in the Sentence Editing activity to "correct any grammar, spelling, or punctuation errors," which requires them to work directly with punctuation. The parent plan provides suggested corrections that show comma usage (for example, adding a comma before a quotation and adjusting commas in a compound sentence). The lesson also directs students to a "Handy Guide to Writing" for more information about punctuation and capitalization.
Lesson 5
Colorful Language
Students are asked to copy and correct two sentences for grammar, spelling, and punctuation, and the provided corrections show adding a comma before a quotation (He pointed at the drawing ... and said, "He's the owner of the carnival."). The sentence-editing task requires students to identify and correct punctuation errors, demonstrating practice with commas used in dialogue. The activities also include general writing tasks (6–8 sentence narrative, figures-of-speech exercises) where students may apply punctuation choices in their own writing.
Lesson 6
Symbolism
Students are asked to correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation in the Sentence Editing activity, which requires them to insert commas (e.g., adding a comma in "By the time Cooter and I were done, there were already..."). Model sentences in the Precise Language section use commas to set off introductory phrases and parenthetical phrases (e.g., "Deep in thought, Bob ambled, appearing aimless..."). The Parent Plan corrections show explicit comma placement and possessive punctuation in student-corrected sentences.
Lesson 8
Transitions and Characters
Students are asked to perform Sentence Editing where they correct punctuation errors; the provided answer key shows a corrected sentence with a comma before the dialogue tag (Mr. Highgate said, "...") and commas in a series (Mr. Leroy, the Preacher, and Mrs. Holton's gold). The editing task requires students to place commas in these contexts, which signals pauses or separations in speech and lists.
Lesson 9
Transitions and Humor
The lesson includes a Sentence Editing activity that asks students to correct punctuation errors and provides suggested corrections showing comma use (e.g., inserting the comma in "...making sure, Mr. Leroy."). The parent notes and answer key discuss comma placement and removing an unnecessary comma before "but," explaining why the comma was removed. The lesson also points students to a "Handy Guide to Writing" for more information about punctuation.
Lesson 10
Allusions and Authors
Students are asked to copy and correct sentences for grammar, spelling, and punctuation in the Sentence Editing activity. The provided answer key shows students inserting commas (e.g., adding a comma before "and" in a compound sentence and after the introductory clause "if I got out of the stable alive,"). These corrections give students direct practice using commas to separate clauses and set off phrases, which can indicate pauses or breaks.
2: Semester 2
Unit 1: The House of the Scorpion
Lesson 2
Revising and Editing
Students are instructed to read their essay a second time focusing on the "mechanics" of writing, explicitly including punctuation, and to use editing symbols to indicate changes. The Student Activity Page description lists proofreading symbols with meanings and examples, and specifically notes a symbol meaning "Insert comma." The lesson directs students to use the editing symbols (also referenced on p. 46 of the Handy Guide to Writing) while editing punctuation in their essays.
Lesson 3
Cast of Characters
The Skills section explicitly asks students to "produce final drafts/presentations that demonstrate accurate spelling and the correct use of punctuation, capitalization, and format," and the Activity 2 instructions require students to type a final draft and "read over your essay carefully to check for typing errors" and to "run spell-check". The Parent Plan repeats that the student will "type a final draft of his essay on a computer and print it" and that a parent should assist with formatting and presumably punctuation. These items show students will proofread and apply punctuation in their final writing products.
Unit 2: Watership Down
Lesson 5
Quotes and Creatures
Students read chapter-opening quotations that include punctuation indicating pauses or breaks (for example, the Thomas Hardy quotation shows an em dash following a question mark: "Who's in the next room? — who?"). Students are asked to record the quotations and to write a couple of sentences explaining the works and how the quotes relate to Watership Down, which requires students to read and reproduce punctuation such as commas and dashes in their responses.
Unit 3: The Book Thief
Lesson 9
Close Calls
Students expand and revise sentences in the "Painting Sentences" activity using introductory phrases and appositives that are shown with commas (e.g., "That afternoon, Liesel..." and "Liesel, the young book thief, gleefully..."). The example painted sentences include commas to set off elements and a checklist asks students to "check spelling and punctuation," which prompts attention to punctuation choices. Multiple sample sentences in the reading and examples (e.g., "Grimly, she realized...") model comma use to indicate a pause or break.
Final Project
Think-Tac-Toe
Students are instructed to revise and strengthen their descriptive paragraph on Day 3 and to "proofread for spelling or punctuation errors," with the parent plan reiterating that they should check for punctuation. The revision step asks students to find their weakest sentence and follow steps from the "Painting Sentences" activity to make that sentence stronger, which involves editing sentence-level choices. Multiple parent-plan notes ask reviewers to check for punctuation and polish in the typed final paragraph.
Unit 4: To Kill a Mockingbird
Lesson 1
Historical Context
Students read and mark sentences that contain commas separating clauses and introductory phrases (e.g., "When he was nearly thirteen, Jem broke his arm..." and "Saved by the bell, Miss Caroline watched..."). The Skills section lists use of "proper punctuation" in connection with phrases and clauses, and student activities require students to identify dependent and independent clauses in sentences that include comma punctuation. The activity answer keys point out the clauses that are set off by commas, so students practice recognizing where commas occur in relation to pauses between clauses.
Lesson 4
Snow and Fire
Students complete Activity 2 "Run-Ons and Fragments," identifying run-ons, fragments, or correct sentences and using proofreading marks to correct punctuation. The lesson explicitly teaches using a comma plus a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS) and inserting a comma after an introductory dependent clause, with examples such as "When he hopped across the front yard, I followed in his tracks." Sample corrected sentences show students inserting commas to fix comma splices and to set off dependent clauses.
Lesson 7
A Moral Dilemma
Students see commas, an em dash, and an ellipsis used in the text of vocabulary example sentences (for example: "Mollified, Mayella gave Atticus a final terrified glance and said to Mr. Gilmer, 'Well sir, I was on the porch and—he came along, and, you see, there was this old chiffarobe in the yard Papa'd brought in to chop up for kindlin'—Papa told me to…'"). The vocabulary activity asks students to write their own sentences using the provided words, providing opportunities to reproduce similar punctuation. Several printed questions and example sentences include commas that indicate pauses in phrasing.
Lesson 11
The Mockingbird
Students diagram compound and complex sentences and are given example sentences that include commas joining independent clauses (e.g., "The front door slammed, and I heard Atticus's footsteps in the hall."). Students are instructed to identify coordinating conjunctions (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) and to mark clause boundaries, which aligns with where commas are commonly used in writing. Sentence diagrams and answer keys show the comma in the compound-sentence example, so students see commas used in context.
Lesson 12
Wise Words
Students read and work with quoted passages from To Kill a Mockingbird that include pause-marking punctuation (for example, Atticus's line contains an ellipsis: "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view ... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it."). Students are asked to rewrite or explain five quotes in their own words and to write a 6-8 sentence diary entry in a chosen character's voice, which requires them to produce original sentences that may include commas, dashes, or ellipses.
Final Project
Oral Book Presentation
Students are asked to "Recognize and correct run-on sentences and sentence fragments" in the study guide and Unit Test Question 2 presents the sentence with a comma splice and requires students to identify the error and rewrite it. The Unit Test answer key models corrections that change comma usage (e.g., adding a coordinating conjunction with a comma, using a semicolon, or splitting into two sentences). Grammar sections and diagramming tasks require students to analyze clause boundaries and sentence punctuation when they rewrite and diagram sentences.
Unit 5: Great American Poets
Lesson 1
Poetry Basics
Students read and annotate poems that include punctuation marking pauses, for example the Robert Frost line that ends with an em dash ("Like a white piece of rigid satin cloth —") and D.H. Lawrence lines that use commas to separate phrases. Students also practice reading poems aloud and marking rhythm and line breaks, which highlights natural pauses in speech. Students rewrite prose into poetic lines in Activity 1, an exercise where punctuation choices could appear in their transformed lines.
Lesson 2
Early American Poetry
The lesson explicitly teaches multiple comma rules: students are instructed to use commas to separate items in a list, set off quotations, follow dependent clauses or long opening phrases, set off participial phrases, and join two independent clauses with FANBOYS (Activity 2 and its student page). The Student Activity Page for "Using Commas, Part 1" asks students to match sentences to specific comma rules and to punctuate examples, giving direct practice identifying and applying comma usage. The Parent Plan Skills section lists "Use punctuation (comma, ellipsis, dash) to indicate a pause or break," indicating the intended focus on punctuation.
Lesson 3
Figurative Language
Students read multiple poem excerpts that include commas, an ellipsis (e.g., "Beneath, in a churchyard...") and an em dash in Poe's stanza ("Is over at last—"). Students are exposed to these punctuation marks in context when analyzing figurative language and when comparing lines from poems. Students are asked to write their own poetic lines and poems in Part II and the concrete-poem activity, which gives them occasions to use punctuation in their writing.
Lesson 5
Edgar Allan Poe
Students learn and practice multiple comma uses, including setting off nonessential information, separating coordinate adjectives, and placing commas after nouns of direct address. Students complete a 'Using Commas Part 2' activity page in which they add commas to six sentences drawn from poems and write explanations for why they added or did not add commas for two of the sentences. Students also review earlier comma rules (lists, quotations, introductory dependent clauses, introductory phrases, and independent clauses joined with FANBOYS) and compare their answers to an answer key.
Lesson 6
Meaning in Poetry
The Skills and Parent Plan sections explicitly list using punctuation (comma, ellipsis, dash) to indicate a pause or break. Activity 3 and its student page focus on comma use: students read explanations that poets use commas to signal pauses, read example lines from "To Helen" and "Song of Myself," and complete tasks identifying end-of-line commas that are grammatically unnecessary, a missing set of commas, and explain the poet's choices. The activity also asks students to analyze comma usage in another poem and to explain whether it is distracting or helpful.
Lesson 8
Robert Frost
The Parent Plan skills list explicitly states "Use punctuation (comma, ellipsis, dash) to indicate a pause or break." Activity 3 (Dashes and Hyphens) gives direct instruction on dash usage (introducing lists, defining/clarifying, setting off information) and explains how dashes indicate a long pause or interruption in poetry, with multiple examples (including Emily Dickinson). Students are asked to complete a "Hyphens and Dashes" activity page and analyze the effect of specific dashes in poems (answer key cites how a dash produces a dramatic pause).
Lesson 9
Memorizing Poetry
In Activity 1 students are told to "observe short pauses (commas), longer pauses (dashes or semi-colons), and stops (periods)" when reading a poem aloud. Students are instructed to read the poem out loud several times, practice daily until memorized, and are encouraged to print an enlarged copy to "make marks and notes" on the poem. The Parent Plan repeats that students should practice reciting poems using voice modulation, tone, and gestures to enhance meaning.
Lesson 10
Poems about Poetry
The lesson explicitly teaches ellipses: the "Things to Know" definition and Activity 3 explain that an ellipsis is three dots used to indicate omitted content and can signal a long pause, hesitation, unfinished thought, tenseness, or trailing off, with examples and spacing rules. The ellipses student activity asks students to identify why ellipses are used in specific poems and to judge correct ellipsis formatting. One activity asks students to mentally (or physically) replace dashes with ellipses to see whether punctuation changes the effect, prompting comparison of ellipses and dashes.
Lesson 11
Editing Your Work
Students are asked in Activity 3 to review commas, dashes, hyphens, and ellipses and to "creatively apply" that knowledge. Option 2 directs students to compose a short poem containing three of the four punctuation marks and to describe on a separate sheet why they used each mark, with an explicit example: "In line 3, the dash is used to create a dramatic pause." The Tech Poem activity also asks students to double-check that their punctuation matches the source, reinforcing attention to punctuation marks.
Final Project
Poetry Journal
Students complete a 'Punctuation Review' graphic organizer in which they cut out sentences and paste them into columns labeled Comma, Dash, Ellipsis, and Hyphen, directly sorting uses of commas, dashes, and ellipses. Students match short descriptions such as "Poets use this for a brief pause" and "Indicates missing information from a quotation" to example quotations. Students answer unit-test multiple-choice items that ask which punctuation mark (comma, dash, ellipsis) should be used to create pauses or breaks in given lines, and the answer key explicitly links commas, dashes, and ellipses to pause/long-pause functions.