English Language Arts, grade 8, mapped

25 claims across 12 strands · 58 of 190 skills in grades 6-8 appear here

13 more claims reach back to a grade below this window. They are named in the lists below and not drawn — the picture holds grades 6-8 and nothing else.

Pick a skill to light what it rests on.

Author's purpose and craft: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts. The student uses critical inquiry to analyze the authors' choices and how they influence and communicate meaning within a variety of texts. The student analyzes and applies author's craft purposefully in order to develop his or her own products and performances.

  1. 7.9.G leans on 6.9.G from another strand named devices and fallacies with their purposes lean on rhetorical devices already told from logical fallacies

Developing and sustaining foundational language skills: listening, speaking, discussion, and thinking--oral language. The student develops oral language through listening, speaking, and discussion.

  1. 7.1.D leans on 7.1.A that discourse also leans on messages already interpreted with questions building on the ideas of others
  2. 7.1.C leans on 6.1.C from another strand critiquing a literary work, film, or production leans on organized presentations already given with a stance and steady delivery
  3. 7.1.D leans on 6.1.D from another strand discourse with constructive feedback leans on discussions already led with suggestions, notes, and agreement weighed

Inquiry and research: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts. The student engages in both short-term and sustained recursive inquiry processes for a variety of purposes.

  1. 7.12.B rests on 7.12.A a plan developed and revised takes those selected and guided questions already generated, this year again
  2. 7.12.C rests on 7.12.B a research question refined through secondary questions takes that plan already developed, this year again
  3. 7.12.F rests on 7.12.D synthesizing from a variety of sources takes relevant information already gathered from them, this year again
  4. 7.12.H leans on 7.12.E examining sources leans on primary and secondary already told apart, this year again
  5. 7.12.I leans on 7.12.G that ethical use leans on paraphrase already told from plagiarism, this year again

Multiple genres: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts--literary elements. The student recognizes and analyzes literary elements within and across increasingly complex traditional, contemporary, classical, and diverse literary texts.

  1. 7.7.A leans on 7.7.C multiple themes within and across texts lean on plot elements already analyzed, foreshadowing and suspense among them
  2. 7.7.D leans on 7.7.C how the setting shapes character and plot leans on that same analyzed arc, which is what a setting acts on
  3. 8.7.A leans on 7.7.A from another strand how themes develop through characters and events leans on multiple themes already inferred with text evidence

Other

  1. 6.3 leans on 5.4 from grade 5, below this window adjusting fluency to the reading purpose leans on grade-level text already read with rate, accuracy, and prosody

The student develops oral language through listening, speaking, and discussion.

  1. 6.1.D leans on 6.1.A student-led discussion with notes and votes leans on messages already interpreted and answered appropriately
  2. 8.1.D leans on 8.1.A those agendas also lean on messages already interpreted by summarizing, questioning, and commenting
  3. 7.1.C leans on 6.1.C from another strand critiquing a literary work, film, or production leans on organized presentations already given with a stance and steady delivery
  4. 7.1.D leans on 6.1.D from another strand discourse with constructive feedback leans on discussions already led with suggestions, notes, and agreement weighed
  5. 6.1.C leans on 5.1.C from grade 5, below this window presenting with a stance and position leans on organized presentations already given with eye contact and steady delivery

The student engages in both short-term and sustained recursive inquiry processes for a variety of purposes.

  1. 6.12.B rests on 6.12.A a plan developed and revised takes those selected and guided questions already generated
  2. 6.12.C rests on 6.12.B a research question refined through secondary questions takes that plan already developed
  3. 6.12.F rests on 6.12.D synthesizing from a variety of sources takes relevant information already gathered from them
  4. 6.12.H leans on 6.12.E examining sources leans on primary and secondary already told apart
  5. 6.12.I leans on 6.12.G that ethical use leans on paraphrase already told from plagiarism
  6. 8.12.B rests on 8.12.A a plan developed and revised takes those selected and guided questions already generated, the third year running
  7. 8.12.C rests on 8.12.B a research question refined through secondary questions takes that plan already developed, the third year running
  8. 8.12.F rests on 8.12.D synthesizing from a variety of sources takes relevant information already gathered from them, the third year running
  9. 8.12.H leans on 8.12.E examining sources leans on primary and secondary already told apart, the third year running
  10. 8.12.I leans on 8.12.G that ethical use leans on paraphrase already told from plagiarism, the third year running
  11. 6.12.A leans on 5.13.A from grade 5, below this window questions selected and guided for inquiry lean on a topic already questioned for formal and informal inquiry
  12. 6.12.I leans on 5.13.G from grade 5, below this window citations displayed and used ethically lean on a bibliography already developed

The student recognizes and analyzes genre-specific characteristics, structures, and purposes within and across increasingly complex traditional, contemporary, classical, and diverse texts.

  1. 6.11.B leans on 6.8.D from another strand that essay also leans on informational structures already analyzed for how they carry a topic
  2. 6.11.C leans on 6.8.E from another strand that argument leans on argumentative structures already analyzed for how they carry a claim
  3. 6.8.B leans on 5.9.B from grade 5, below this window taking up meter and line breaks in a poem leans on already explaining how its sound devices work and telling the poet from the speaker
  4. 6.8.C leans on 5.9.C from grade 5, below this window characters built through dialogue and staging lean on drama already explained through tags, acts, scenes, and directions

The student recognizes and analyzes literary elements within and across increasingly complex traditional, contemporary, classical, and diverse literary texts.

  1. 6.7.A leans on 6.7.C those themes lean on plot elements already analyzed, flashback among them
  2. 6.7.D leans on 6.7.C that shaping leans on the plot elements already analyzed, which is what the setting acts on
  3. 8.7.A leans on 8.7.B those developing themes lean on motivations and behaviors already shown moving events to resolution
  4. 8.7.A leans on 7.7.A from another strand how themes develop through characters and events leans on multiple themes already inferred with text evidence
  5. 6.7.A leans on 5.8.A from grade 5, below this window inferring themes within and across texts leans on multiple themes already inferred within one text
  6. 6.7.B leans on 5.8.B from grade 5, below this window how inward and outward responses develop the plot leans on relationships and conflicts among characters already analyzed
  7. 6.7.C leans on 5.8.C from grade 5, below this window plot with rising, climax, falling, resolution, and flashback leans on that same arc already analyzed without the flashback

The student responds to an increasingly challenging variety of sources that are read, heard, or viewed.

  1. 8.6.J leans on 8.6.C defending or challenging claims with evidence leans on text evidence already used to support a response
  2. 6.6.G leans on 5.7.G from grade 5, below this window writing about explicit and implicit meanings leans on specific ideas already discussed for what they mean

The student uses critical inquiry to analyze the authors' choices and how they influence and communicate meaning within a variety of texts. The student analyzes and applies author's craft purposefully in order to develop his or her own products and performances.

  1. 8.9.G leans on 6.9.G analogy, juxtaposition, bandwagon, and circular reasoning lean on devices already told from fallacies two years on
  2. 7.9.G leans on 6.9.G from another strand named devices and fallacies with their purposes lean on rhetorical devices already told from logical fallacies

The student uses genre characteristics and craft to compose multiple texts that are meaningful.

  1. 6.11.B leans on 6.8.D from another strand that essay also leans on informational structures already analyzed for how they carry a topic
  2. 6.11.C leans on 6.8.E from another strand that argument leans on argumentative structures already analyzed for how they carry a claim
  3. 6.11.B leans on 5.12.B from grade 5, below this window a multi-paragraph essay with a thesis leans on brief compositions already conveying information with a central idea
  4. 6.11.C leans on 5.12.C from grade 5, below this window multi-paragraph argument leans on opinion essays already composed with genre characteristics and craft
  5. 6.11.D leans on 5.12.D from grade 5, below this window letters of opinion, complaint, or request lean on correspondence already composed to request information

Back to english language arts, grade 8

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills · CC BY 3.0 US · D2L Corporation · verified 2026-09-05

What that means, and what this is not

The standards text is adopted by the Texas State Board of Education and published as rules in Title 19 of the Texas Administrative Code. We retrieved it through the Common Standards Project. The licence above covers that project's compiled dataset, not the rule text itself, which is Texas law.

Coverage requirements from New York 8 NYCRR §100.10: what the law requires. Nothing here is legal advice, and Texas standards do not apply in your state. Check your own state's department of education.