8th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 9 of 12
Write It Better
Voice, revising and proofreading
What your child practices
Choosing the right form and tone for an audience, using reliable sources and giving credit, building voice, acknowledging other perspectives, and revising, editing and proofreading drafts.
Arizona Academic Standards learning standard: 8.W.5 · revising and proofreading
How we explain it
Children can open this short lesson before they practice.
- Use an outline to organize ideas before you draft.
- Revise to add evidence and cut wordiness. Edit and proofread for errors.
- Match form and tone to your audience, use reliable sources and give credit.
Example: Remove the wordiness: “Due to the fact that it was raining, the game was postponed.” “Due to the fact that” uses five words. “Because” says the same thing in one. Answer: Because it was raining, the game was postponed.
Write It Better in Arizona
In the Arizona Academic Standards, this is unit 9 of 12 in 8th grade English Language Arts, after Digital Citizens and before Precise Words & Spelling.
Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.
- 8th grade guide for Arizona parents
- Printable 8th grade English Language Arts sheet
- Arizona report cards explained
Source: Arizona Department of Education
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
Which concluding sentence best wraps up an essay on recycling?
- By recycling more, our community can protect resources for the future.
- Also, aluminum is a metal.
- That is all I have to say about lunch.
- Recycling bins are blue.
By recycling more, our community can protect resources for the future.
Hint: A conclusion returns to the main idea.
Question 2
A writer reads a draft aloud. Why?
- To skip revising
- To make it longer
- To change the topic
- To hear awkward sentences and missing words
To hear awkward sentences and missing words
Hint: Reading aloud helps you notice problems.
Question 3
What is the best way to give credit when you use someone else's idea?
- use it without mentioning it, because ideas are free
- change a few words and skip the credit
- mention it only if you copy exact words
- name the source in your text and list it in your sources
name the source in your text and list it in your sources
Hint: Citing sources applies to ideas as well as words.
Question 4
Tap the sentences in the best order.
- The alarm rang before sunrise.
- She laced her skates and stepped onto the ice.
- By the end of practice, her legs were shaking and she was grinning.
- Zoe grabbed her gear and ran to the rink.
The alarm rang before sunrise. → Zoe grabbed her gear and ran to the rink. → She laced her skates and stepped onto the ice. → By the end of practice, her legs were shaking and she was grinning.
Hint: Look for the opening idea, then words like first, second and finally, and a closing sentence.
Question 5
Which sentence is the strongest thesis for a persuasive essay?
- I like sleeping.
- There are many schools.
- Schools should start later because teens need more sleep to learn well.
- Schools start in the morning.
Schools should start later because teens need more sleep to learn well.
Hint: A thesis states your position and reason.
Question 6
Which sentence is edited correctly?
- Their team won the final, and they celebrated at Ravi's house.
- Their team won the final, and they celebrated at Ravis house.
- There team won the final, and they celebrated at Ravi's house.
Their team won the final, and they celebrated at Ravi's house.
Hint: Check homophones and apostrophes.