8th Grade ELA Resource Hub — Diagnostics, Reading, Grammar, Writing, Short Stories, Novel Studies, Seasonal

Diagnostics

Place students quickly, then teach precisely.

Grammar + Writing

8th Grade Grammar & Writing Diagnostic

Quickly map writing and conventions to place students for skill-specific practice.

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Reading

Advanced focus (7–9): theme, main idea, author’s purpose, cause/effect.

Nonfiction

Taylor Swift — Reading & Writing (Theme: Fitting In)

Author study with evidence-based prompts connecting central ideas, theme, and craft.

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Skill Focus

Advanced Cause & Effect — Set 1 (Grades 7–9)

Trace causal chains and justify claims with precise textual evidence.

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Nonfiction

Vlad the Impaler — Power, Fear & Propaganda (RI.8)

Analyze leadership motives with RI-aligned questions, evidence-based responses, and essay writing.

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Historical Fiction

Chains of Fear — Vlad the Impaler (RL.8)

Deepen literary analysis of fear and legacy through close reading, inference, and evidence-based writing.

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Skill Focus

Advanced Author’s Purpose — Set 1 (Grades 7–9)

Identify and defend author intent using concise, rigorous passages.

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Overview

Advanced Reading Mini Bundle 1

Target core comprehension skills after diagnostics to build stamina and accuracy.

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Skill Focus

Advanced Main Idea & Supporting Details (Grades 7–9)

Differentiate claims from support and paraphrase key evidence accurately.

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Grammar

Revise-and-edit, comma mastery, and sentence structure.

Diagnostic

8th Grade Grammar & Writing Diagnostic

Pinpoint sentence skills, agreement, and punctuation for targeted small-group lessons.

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Commas

Comma Splice — 4 Worksheet Grammar Set (Grades 7–8)

Focused practice distinguishing run-ons, comma splices, and correct compound sentences.

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Commas

Advanced Comma Rules — Set 1 (Grades 7–9)

Appositives, nonrestrictives, intros, series, and more—clear examples + cumulative practice.

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Compound Sentences

Halloween: Compound Sentence Worksheet / Interactive (6–8)

FANBOYS practice with themed passages and interactive variations.

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Writing

Short responses, paragraph frames, and diagnostics tied to texts.

Diagnostic

8th Grade Grammar & Writing Diagnostic

Use results to group writers and plan targeted mini-lessons and exit tickets.

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Responses

Taylor Swift — Reading & Writing (Theme: Fitting In)

Evidence-based short responses that guide students from citation to organized paragraphs.

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Short Stories

High-interest shorts for quick wins in theme and inference.

Stations

Halloween Revise & Edit Stations — Middle School

Rotations that pair narrative snippets with bite-size revise/edit tasks—perfect for spooky short-story week.

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Sensory Writing

Halloween Sensory Language Writing Stations — Show, Don’t Tell

Mini scenes that teach vivid detail and precise verbs—ideal companions to spooky short reads.

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Novel Studies

Cohesive literature units with reading, grammar, and writing tie-ins.

Scaffolded Notes

A Christmas Carol — Cloze/Close Notes (Stave 1 & 2)

Guided note sets that build vocabulary and comprehension while keeping students actively reading.

Stave 1 Stave 2

Pre-Reading

The Hobbit — WebQuest & Book Scavenger Hunt

Roman numeral chapter practice + guided WebQuest (Tolkien, WWI, trench warfare) to build context before Chapter 1.

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Writing Prompts

The Hobbit — Chapter Writing Prompts

Chapter-by-chapter prompts with sentence stems to scaffold clear, confident responses.

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Chapter Quizzes

The Hobbit — Chapter Quizzes

Quick comprehension checks for each chapter to build accountability and guide pacing.

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Seasonal

Low-prep, high-engagement activities aligned to holidays.

Freebie

Fall ELA Freebie — Halloween, Thanksgiving & Christmas

Try a mix of seasonal reading & writing tasks to sample the style and pacing before you buy.

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Halloween

Dead Words — Halloween Revise Writing Activity (Grades 6–8)

Quick revise-and-edit tasks that replace weak words with vivid verbs and precise detail.

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Halloween

Halloween Themed Complex Sentence Worksheets & Activities

Sentence combining and subordinating conjunctions with a spooky twist.

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Halloween

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow — Halloween Mini-Unit (Grades 6–8)

Compact unit with vocabulary, comprehension, and writing aligned to Irving’s classic.

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Halloween

Halloween Revise & Edit Stations — Middle School

Rotations that pair narrative snippets with bite-size revise/edit tasks.

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Halloween

Halloween Sensory Language Writing Stations — Show, Don’t Tell

Mini scenes that teach vivid detail and precise verbs—ideal companions to spooky reads.

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Halloween

Witch Hat — Middle School Sentence Structure Activity & Lesson Plans

Hands-on practice with simple, compound, and complex sentences.

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Halloween

Pumpkin Simple, Compound & Complex — Grammar Activity (Grades 5–8)

Sorting and sentence-building to cement structure with a seasonal twist.

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Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Parts of Speech Worksheets — Bundle (Grades 6–8)

Nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns & prepositions with festive practice.

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Thanksgiving

The Pilgrims and the Mayflower — Nonfiction (Middle School)

Short nonfiction with comprehension practice—ideal for November bell-ringers.

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Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Compound Sentence Worksheets (Grades 6–8)

FANBOYS practice with themed passages and quick checks.

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Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Complex Sentence Cut & Paste — Hands-On ELA (Grades 6–8)

Interactive subordination practice with a seasonal theme.

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Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Compound Sentence Activity — FANBOYS (Grades 6–8)

Craft-style grammar activity reinforcing coordinating conjunctions.

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Christmas

Compound Sentences & Reading — Christmas Hot Cocoa (Cut & Paste)

Hands-on sentence combining plus themed reading comprehension.

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Christmas

Christmas Simple, Compound & Complex — Sentence Creation (Grades 6–8)

Seasonal grammar mini-lesson with modeling and practice.

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Christmas

Christmas Sentence Types — Worksheet (Middle School ELA)

Quick checks and guided practice on declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory.

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