Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards:
L.8.2c
New York State Next Generation Learning Standards:
Spell correctly.
Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks:
L.8.2.c
Spell correctly, recognizing that some words have commonly accepted variations (e.g., donut/doughnut).
North Carolina - Standard Course of Study:
L.8.2.c
Consistently apply conventional rules to spell words correctly
Wisconsin Academic Standards:
L.8.6.c
correct spelling.
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS):
8.21
Students spell correctly. Students are expected to spell correctly, including using various resources to determine and check correct spellings.
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS):
8.10.D
edit drafts using standard English conventions, including:
complete complex sentences with subject-verb agreement and avoidance of splices, run-ons, and fragments;
consistent, appropriate use of verb tenses and active and passive voice;
prepositions and prepositional phrases and their influence on subject-verb agreement;
pronoun-antecedent agremment;
correct capitalization;
punctuation, including commas in nonrestrictive phrases and clauses, semicolons, colons, and parentheses; and
correct spelling, including commonly confused terms such as its/it's, affect/effect, there/their/they're, and to/two/too;
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS):
8.10.D
edit drafts using standard English conventions, including:
complete complex sentences with subject-verb agreement and avoidance of splices, run-ons, and fragments;
consistent, appropriate use of verb tenses and active and passive voice;
prepositions and prepositional phrases and their influence on subject-verb agreement;
pronoun-antecedent agremment;
correct capitalization;
punctuation, including commas in nonrestrictive phrases and clauses, semicolons, colons, and parentheses; and
correct spelling, including commonly confused terms such as its/it's, affect/effect, there/their/they're, and to/two/too;
Pennsylvania Core Standards:
CC.1.4.8.F
Demonstrate a grade-appropriate command of the conventions of standard English grammar,usage, capitalization, punctuation,and spelling.
E08.D.1.1.1 - Explain the function of verbals (i.e., gerunds, participles, and infinitives) in general and their function in particular sentences.
E08.D.1.1.2 - Form and use verbs in the active and passive voice.
E08.D.1.1.3 - Form and use verbs in the indicative, imperative, interrogative, conditional, and subjunctive mood.
E08.D.1.1.4 - Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in verb voice and mood.*
E08.D.1.1.5 - Place phrases and clauses within a sentence, recognizing and correcting misplaced and dangling modifiers.*
E08.D.1.1.6 - Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in pronoun number and person.*
E08.D.1.1.7 - Recognize and correct vague pronouns (i.e., ones with unclear or ambiguous antecedents).*
E08.D.1.1.8 - Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in verb tense.*
E08.D.1.1.9 - Produce complete sentences, recognizing and correcting inappropriate fragments and run-on sentences.*
E08.D.1.1.10 - Correctly use frequently confused words (e.g., to, too, two; there, their, they’re).*
E08.D.1.1.11 - Ensure subject-verb and pronoun-antecedent agreement.*
E08.D.1.2.1 - Use punctuation (i.e., comma, ellipsis, and dash) to indicate a pause or break.
E08.D.1.2.2 -Use an ellipsis to indicate an omission.
E08.D.1.2.3 - Spell correctly.
E08.D.1.2.4 - Use punctuation (i.e., commas, parentheses, and dashes) to set off nonrestrictive/parenthetical elements.*
E08.D.1.2.5 - Use punctuation to separate items in a series.*
Pennsylvania Core Standards:
CC.1.4.8.L
Demonstrate a grade-appropriate command of the conventions of standard English grammar,usage, capitalization, punctuation,and spelling.
E08.D.1.1.1 - Explain the function of verbals (i.e., gerunds, participles, and infinitives) in general and their function in particular sentences.
E08.D.1.1.2 - Form and use verbs in the active and passive voice.
E08.D.1.1.3 - Form and use verbs in the indicative, imperative, interrogative, conditional, and subjunctive mood.
E08.D.1.1.4 - Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in verb voice and mood.*
E08.D.1.1.5 - Place phrases and clauses within a sentence, recognizing and correcting misplaced and dangling modifiers.*
E08.D.1.1.6 - Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in pronoun number and person.*
E08.D.1.1.7 - Recognize and correct vague pronouns (i.e., ones with unclear or ambiguous antecedents).*
E08.D.1.1.8 - Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in verb tense.*
E08.D.1.1.9 - Produce complete sentences, recognizing and correcting inappropriate fragments and run-on sentences.*
E08.D.1.1.10 - Correctly use frequently confused words (e.g., to, too, two; there, their, they’re).*
E08.D.1.1.11 - Ensure subject-verb and pronoun-antecedent agreement.*
E08.D.1.2.1 - Use punctuation (i.e., comma, ellipsis, and dash) to indicate a pause or break.
E08.D.1.2.2 -Use an ellipsis to indicate an omission.
E08.D.1.2.3 - Spell correctly.
E08.D.1.2.4 - Use punctuation (i.e., commas, parentheses, and dashes) to set off nonrestrictive/parenthetical elements.*
E08.D.1.2.5 - Use punctuation to separate items in a series.*
Pennsylvania Core Standards:
CC.1.4.8.R
Demonstrate a grade-appropriate command of the conventions of standard English grammar,usage, capitalization, punctuation,and spelling.
E08.D.1.1.1 - Explain the function of verbals (i.e., gerunds, participles, and infinitives) in general and their function in particular sentences.
E08.D.1.1.2 - Form and use verbs in the active and passive voice.
E08.D.1.1.3 - Form and use verbs in the indicative, imperative, interrogative, conditional, and subjunctive mood.
E08.D.1.1.4 - Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in verb voice and mood.*
E08.D.1.1.5 - Place phrases and clauses within a sentence, recognizing and correcting misplaced and dangling modifiers.*
E08.D.1.1.6 - Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in pronoun number and person.*
E08.D.1.1.7 - Recognize and correct vague pronouns (i.e., ones with unclear or ambiguous antecedents).*
E08.D.1.1.8 - Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in verb tense.*
E08.D.1.1.9 - Produce complete sentences, recognizing and correcting inappropriate fragments and run-on sentences.*
E08.D.1.1.10 - Correctly use frequently confused words (e.g., to, too, two; there, their, they’re).*
E08.D.1.1.11 - Ensure subject-verb and pronoun-antecedent agreement.*
E08.D.1.2.1 - Use punctuation (i.e., comma, ellipsis, and dash) to indicate a pause or break.
E08.D.1.2.2 -Use an ellipsis to indicate an omission.
E08.D.1.2.3 - Spell correctly.
E08.D.1.2.4 - Use punctuation (i.e., commas, parentheses, and dashes) to set off nonrestrictive/parenthetical elements.*
E08.D.1.2.5 - Use punctuation to separate items in a series.*
Florida - Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking:
ELA.8.C.3.1
Follow the rules of standard English grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling appropriate to grade level.
Arkansas Academic Standards:
8.L.15.C
Use knowledge of reading foundational skills, spelling patterns, and generalizations such as syllable patterns, ending rules, and meaningful word parts (i.e., morphology) to spell correctly.
8th Grade Writing - Spelling Lesson
SPELLING
Spelling well is important for good communication in writing.
Good spelling avoids confusion.
There are many commonly confused words.
HOMOPHONES
Homophones are words that sound the same, but have differentmeanings and different spellings.
Example:
The cook has some very large mussels.
The cook has some very large muscles.
Example:
Sylvia demanded my presents at the birthday party.
Sylvia demanded my presence at the birthday party.
Other commonly confused words are similar, with slightly different pronunciations.
Example:
Mother finely chopped the onions.
Mother finally chopped the onions.
Example:
He carefully dropped the berries in the desert.
He carefully dropped the berries in the dessert.
Good spelling makes a good impression.
Teachers, employers, and readers prefer writing that has good spelling.
Example:
How to Become a Good Speller
READ books, newspapers, magazines, and other written works with good spelling.
Look for spelling patterns, and know general spelling rules.
Example:
muddy → muddiest
empty → emptiness
copy → copier
empty → emptying
copy → copying
Example:
disobey → disobeyed
essay → essays
trolley → trolleys
Example:
notice → noticeable
manage → manageable
change → changeable
desire → desirable
believe → believable
like → likable
Example:
achieve → achievement
bereave → bereavement
base → basement
Accept that there are exceptions, and MEMORIZE their spellings.
Example:
judge → judgment
When in doubt, use print and/or electronic dictionaries to check spelling, and use the spell-check function of word processors.
Spell checkers are very good at finding "typos" -- keyboarding errors -- and other misspelled words that do not match any other correctly spelled words.
WARNING!
Over-reliance on spell checkers can be dangerous!
Spell Checker Limitations
Spell checkers do not identify spelling mistakes between homophones or other commonly confused words.
Example:
Spell checkers do not always suggest the appropriate alternate spellings to replace identified misspelled words.
Example:
He surpassed his parents' expectations.
Spell checkers often identify correctly spelled alternate or unusual spellings of proper names as misspellings.
8th Grade Writing - Spelling Lesson