8th Grade English

198 core topics + 93 prerequisite topics taught as needed · approximately 87 hours of instruction including spaced review

How the course runs

An adaptive diagnostic (up to 40 questions) places the student on the course's knowledge graph - topics already known are credited, and instruction begins exactly at the learning frontier. Every topic is taught with a worked-example lesson and auto-graded practice; a topic is mastered at 75%+ and then maintained through spaced reviews on an expanding schedule. Mixed checks follow every 6 lessons; each unit ends with a 12-item quiz, and course-wide assessments appear at 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% mastery. Prerequisite gaps below the course are detected and taught rather than skipped, so completion certifies the whole tower, not just the top.

Core curriculum

Greek & Latin Roots · 8 topics

What a Root Is [M]	Find the root inside a long word and tell it from a base word.
What the Common Roots Mean [M]	Know what the roots that build academic English actually mean.
Words That Share a Root [H]	Sort words into families by the root they are built on.
Words Built from Two Roots [H]	Read a word built out of two roots by putting both part meanings together, in order.
One Root, Many Prefixes [H]	Use the prefix to tell apart words built on the same root.
Reading a Word You Have Never Met [H]	Work out an unfamiliar word from its root and the sentence together.
When the Letters Lie [H]	Test a root by meaning, not by letters, and catch the look-alikes.
Greek Spelling Clues [H]	Spell the Greek words in science and math, and know why they look odd.

Context Clues & Word Nuance (Grades 4-6) · 8 topics

When the Clue Is Somewhere Else [H]	Find the meaning of a word when the clue sits in a different sentence.
Shades of Meaning [H]	Choose the word whose size matches what actually happened.
Words That Carry a Feeling [H]	Hear the approval or disapproval hidden inside a word choice.
Reporting or Arguing? [H]	Tell a sentence that reports from one that argues, and name the word doing it.
Word Parts Plus Context [H]	Take an unfamiliar word apart and check the pieces against the sentence.
Everyday Words With a School Meaning [H]	Catch a familiar word being used in its science, math, or history sense.
The Words the Directions Use [H]	Know the words that every subject and every test direction line uses.
Can You Swap That Word? [H]	Test a replacement word against meaning, size, and feeling all at once.

Figurative Language & Idioms · 9 topics

Noticing When Words Are Not Literal [M]	Tell when a sentence is not meant exactly as written.
Working Out What It Really Means [M]	Say in plain words what a figure of speech is telling you.
Similes [M]	Read a comparison made with like or as.
Metaphors [M]	Read a comparison that says one thing IS another.
Simile or Metaphor? [M]	Tell the two kinds of comparison apart.
Personification [M]	Spot something not human doing something only people do.
Hyperbole [M]	Read an exaggeration that nobody is meant to believe.
Idioms [H]	Learn set phrases whose meaning the words do not give you.
Naming the Device [H]	Say which kind of figurative language a sentence uses.

Academic Vocabulary · 8 topics

Three Kinds of School Word [M]	Sort a word into everyday, used in every subject, or belonging to one subject.
The Words Every Subject Uses [H]	Give the exact meaning of the words that show up in every subject.
The Everyday Word and the School Word [H]	Match a school word to the everyday wording that means the same thing.
One Word, Many Forms [H]	Choose the right form of an academic word for the slot it has to fill.
The Same Word in a Different Class [H]	Work out which meaning a familiar word carries in a school subject.
Command Words: What the Task Asks For [H]	Name what a direction word is telling you to do before you start writing.
Reading the Question Before You Answer It [H]	Say what a test question requires before looking at the choices.
How Sure Does the Writer Sound? [H]	Tell what a writer is claiming from the verb that carries the claim.

Theme, Lesson & Central Message · 8 topics

Topic or Theme? [M]	Tell the subject of a story apart from what the story says about it.
What a Character Learns [M]	Find the theme by watching what a character understands at the end that they did not understand at the start.
The Moral a Story States [H]	Read a stated moral or saying and check what the story actually backs up.
Saying a Theme in One Sentence [H]	Word a theme so it is neither about one character nor true of every story.
The Evidence for a Theme [M]	Point to the detail that actually supports a theme, not just a true detail.
Themes Nobody Writes Down [H]	Work out a theme from an ending, a silence, or a word the writer chose.
Objects That Carry the Message [H]	Read the object or image a story keeps returning to.
What a Story Does Not Say [H]	Refuse a lesson the text will not support, including the tidy one.

Point of View, Narrator & Perspective · 8 topics

Who Is Telling This [M]	Find the teller of a text before deciding what the text means.
How Much the Teller Knows [H]	Work out how far a teller can see, and what is therefore missing.
What the Teller Cannot See [H]	Assemble what a text shows but its teller has not noticed.
What a Person Makes of It [H]	Separate what happened from what a person in the text made of it.
Words That Give a View Away [H]	Notice the single words that carry a teller's attitude.
One Event, Two Views [H]	Explain why two honest accounts of one event can disagree.
Telling It From Somewhere Else [H]	Predict what changes when the same events get a different teller.
Why the Author Chose This Teller [H]	Explain what a writer gains and loses by choosing a particular teller.

Poetry & Drama · 9 topics

Lines, Stanzas and Where a Poem Breaks [M]	Read a poem's shape on the page as part of what it means.
Rhyme, Rhyme Scheme and Poems Without Either [M]	Hear rhyme, name the pattern it makes, and read a poem that has none.
Repetition, Alliteration and the Sound of a Line [M]	Notice what a poem's sounds are doing besides rhyming.
The Picture a Poem Puts in Your Head [M]	Read the sensory pictures a poem or a stage sets, and say what they do.
Figures of Speech Inside a Poem [H]	Read similes, metaphors and personification where poems pack them tightest.
Who Is Talking in a Poem [M]	Identify the voice speaking a poem, and what that voice reveals.
What the Poem or the Scene Is Saying [H]	State what a poem or a scene is finally about, in a sentence.
How a Play Is Written Down [M]	Read a script: cast list, scene heading, dialogue and stage directions.
Reading What a Scene Is Really Doing [H]	Work out what characters want, what blocks them, and what they will not say.

Comparing & Contrasting Texts · 8 topics

Comparing on the Same Point [H]	Name one point that both texts speak to before you say anything about either of them.
Two Characters, Side by Side [H]	Compare two characters by what each one decides, not by what each one is called.
What the Setting Changes [H]	Ask what a setting makes possible or impossible, not just what it looks like.
Patterns of Events Across Stories [H]	Recognize the shape two stories share, and find the exact place where they stop sharing it.
Same Idea, Different Story [H]	State what each text says about a shared subject, then compare the two statements.
Two Tellers of One Event [H]	Compare who is telling each text and what that teller was in a position to know.
The Same Story in Another Form [H]	Compare what a poem, a play, a story or an explanation can and cannot carry.
Making a Comparison That Says Something [H]	Write a comparison that names the shared point, the difference, and why the difference matters.

Author's Purpose & Point of View · 8 topics

Why the Author Wrote It [H]	Name what a text was built to do, not just what it is about.
The Evidence for a Purpose [H]	Point to the move in the text that proves what the writer wanted.
Why This Part Is Here [H]	Explain the job a single paragraph, sentence or phrase is doing.
Who It Was Written For [H]	Work out the reader a text was aimed at, and how you can tell.
The Author's Point of View [H]	Say what the writer thinks about the subject, even when no opinion is stated.
Words That Take a Side [H]	Notice how a writer's wording steers what a reader concludes.
Facts, Judgments, and Honest Uncertainty [H]	Sort what can be checked from what is argued, and spot a writer naming their own limits.
Two Writers, One Subject [H]	Compare two texts on one subject and find the exact point where they part.

Inference, Evidence & Summarizing · 8 topics

Stated or Implied? [H]	Tell what a text says outright from what it only lets you conclude.
What One Detail Tells You [H]	Draw the conclusion a single detail supports, and stop there.
The Line That Proves It [H]	Given a claim, find the sentence in the text that actually supports it.
Putting Two Details Together [H]	Reach a conclusion that no single sentence in the text states.
An Objective Summary [H]	Say what a text argued, in its own terms, without taking a side.
Deciding What to Leave Out [H]	Cut the details a summary can lose, and keep the ones it cannot.
Which Evidence Is Strongest [H]	Choose between two relevant details by asking which one settles it.
Inference or Guess? [H]	Spot the step that goes past what the text can carry.

Integrating Multiple Sources · 8 topics

What Your Sources Are Really About [H]	State the one question a set of sources is answering, precisely enough to compare them.
Where Sources Agree [H]	Find the ground two sources share before you look at where they split.
Where Sources Disagree [H]	Locate the exact sentence where two sources stop agreeing.
A Fact Fight or a Meaning Fight [H]	Tell whether two sources disagree about what happened or about what it means.
What Each Source Chose to Include [H]	Notice what one source puts first, and what another leaves out entirely.
Choosing the Source That Can Answer It [H]	Match a question to the source that is actually able to answer it.
Building One Answer from Several Sources [H]	Write one sentence that holds everything the sources support and nothing more.
What None of the Sources Tells You [H]	Name the question your sources leave open, and what would answer it.

Reading in Science: Life Science (Grades 5-6) · 8 topics

Technical Words: Parts and Context [M]	Work out a science word from its parts and from the sentence around it.
How a Science Text Is Built [M]	Name the shape a science passage is built in, and use it to find the point.
Reading the Numbers in a Science Text [M]	Read a figure in prose for its unit, its size and how sure it is.
Models and Where They Break [H]	Judge a scientific model by what it predicts and by what it leaves out.
Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning [H]	Separate what a science text asserts from what it shows, and the link between.
Reading an Investigation [H]	Read a described experiment for what it changed, held steady and can show.
Cause, Correlation, and Coincidence [H]	Tell a cause from two things that merely happen together.
What the Science Actually Says [H]	Use what a passage taught you to answer a real life-science question.

Reading in Science: Earth & Space (Grades 5-6) · 8 topics

Words Earth Science Redefines [M]	Read an earth science term for its exact meaning, not its everyday one.
Numbers Too Big to Picture [H]	Handle the huge distances, slow rates and long times an earth science text reports.
Diagrams That Cannot Be to Scale [H]	Judge an earth science model or diagram by what it is built to show.
Loops, Not Lines [H]	Follow a cause around a loop instead of straight down a list.
What Can and Cannot Be Predicted [H]	Tell a real prediction from a question no method can answer.
How We Know What Nobody Watched [H]	Name the measurement that supports a claim about something nobody saw happen.
What the Science Actually Says [H]	Use what a passage taught you to answer a real earth or space science question.
When Science Changes Its Mind [H]	Trace how new evidence overturned an idea scientists had accepted.

Reading in Science: Physical Science & Engineering · 8 topics

Physical Science Words, Defined in Place [M]	Work out a physical science term from the sentence that introduces it.
The Point of a Physical Science Text [M]	Find the mechanism a physical science passage is really explaining.
Running the Mechanism Forward [M]	Say why something physical happens, and follow the chain past one step.
Reading the Measurements [M]	Read numbers in a science passage for size, unit and what they compare.
Which Sentence Actually Proves It [H]	Point to the detail in a science text that settles a particular claim.
Reading a Fair Test [H]	Find what an investigation changed and what it deliberately held still.
What the Better Design Costs [H]	Name what an engineering choice gives up in exchange for what it gains.
Using the Physics on a New Case [H]	Apply a mechanism from the passage to a situation the passage never named.

Reading in Social Studies: American History (5-6) · 9 topics

Reading a Source Like a Historian [H]	Ask who made a source, when, and what they wanted it to do.
Claims and the Evidence Under Them [H]	Separate what a history text asserts from what it shows.
When Sources Disagree [H]	Compare accounts of the same event instead of trusting one.
What the Wording Gives Away [H]	Notice how a writer's word choices shape what you conclude.
Putting a Source Back in Its Moment [H]	Read a source against what its writer could and could not know.
Summarizing Without Losing the Argument [H]	Write a summary that keeps the point, not just the facts.
Chains of Cause in History [H]	Follow why one thing led to another, and where the chain stops.
Whose Account Is This [H]	Work out whose view a history text carries, and who is missing.
What the History Actually Says [H]	Answer questions about the events themselves, from the text.

Reading in Social Studies: Civics & Government · 7 topics

Civics Words With Exact Jobs [H]	Work out what a government word means from the sentence around it.
Who Holds Which Power [H]	Sort any government action by which job it is and at which level.
Steps, and Where They Stop [H]	Follow a civic process in order and find the points where it can end.
The Claim and the Support Under It [H]	Separate what a civics text asserts from what actually backs it up.
What a Rule Does After It Is Made [H]	Trace the effects a rule produces, including the ones nobody wrote down.
Who a Rule Lands On [H]	Ask whose interest a rule or an account serves, and who it leaves out.
What This Text Wants From You [H]	Identify what a civic text was written to make its reader do or think.

Reading in Social Studies: Economics & Culture · 8 topics

Economics Words in Context [H]	Pin down an economics term from the sentences around it.
The Cost of What You Did Not Choose [H]	Name what was given up when somebody in the text made a choice.
Why a Price Moved [H]	Explain a change in price by what happened to supply or to demand.
Reading the Numbers in the Text [H]	Work out what a figure in a social studies text does and does not measure.
Claims About Money, and What Backs Them [H]	Separate what an economics text asserts from what it actually shows.
Who Gains and Who Loses [H]	Trace a decision to the people it helped and the people it cost.
How Culture Moves and Changes [H]	Follow a practice as it travels between peoples and is changed by them.
What the Social Studies Actually Says [H]	Answer questions about the economics and the cultures themselves.

Conjunctions, Prepositions & Complex Sentences · 9 topics

Clause, or Just a Phrase? [H]	Tell an independent clause, a dependent clause, and a phrase apart.
Prepositions and the Phrases They Start [H]	Find a prepositional phrase and say where it starts and stops.
The Subject Is Never Inside the Phrase [H]	Ignore the prepositional phrase and match the verb to the real subject.
All Seven Coordinating Conjunctions [H]	Choose among the seven - and, but, or, so, for, nor, and yet - by what each one claims.
The Comma Before a Joining Word [H]	When a joining word holds two halves together, the comma goes in only if a whole sentence follows it.
Subordinating Conjunctions [H]	Use because, although, unless, until, and their kin to say how two ideas relate.
Where the Comma Goes in a Complex Sentence [H]	Comma after a leading dependent clause, none after a trailing one.
Conjunctions That Come in Pairs [H]	Use both...and, either...or, neither...nor, and not only...but also, with matching halves.
Simple, Compound, Complex [H]	Name the structure of any sentence by counting its clauses.

Opinion & Argument Writing · 7 topics

A Claim or a Fact? [H]	Tell a position someone could argue with from a fact they could check.
The Reason Under a Claim [H]	Find the sentence that says why a position holds.
A Reason That Just Says It Again [H]	Spot a reason that goes in a circle instead of forward.
Evidence That Actually Proves It [H]	Tell measured evidence from a stronger way of repeating an opinion.
Claims You Cannot Defend [H]	Recognize a claim pushed past what any evidence could support.
Answering the Other Side [H]	Answer the strongest objection instead of talking past it.
The Shape of an Argument [H]	Name the job each sentence in an argument is doing.

Informative & Explanatory Writing · 8 topics

Explaining or Arguing? [H]	Tell a sentence that explains from one that argues, tells a story, or gives orders.
Saying What You Will Explain [H]	Open a report with a sentence that says what about the subject will be explained.
Putting Facts Where They Belong [H]	Group related facts under the heading that answers the same question.
Sentences That Add Something [H]	Develop a point with real information instead of repeating it louder.
Defining a Word for Your Reader [H]	Write a definition that names the kind of thing and what sets it apart.
The Exact Word [H]	Use the subject's own word instead of describing your way around it.
Sounding Like a Report [H]	Keep the writer, the reader, and casual talk out of an explanation.
Your Own Words, the Same Facts [H]	Restate a source's fact in your own wording without changing it.

Narrative Writing · 9 topics

Starting Where the Story Starts [M]	Begin a story inside the moment instead of outside it.
Telling It in an Order a Reader Can Follow [H]	Keep events in order and mark the jumps with real time signposts.
Showing a Feeling Instead of Naming It [H]	Replace a named feeling with something a reader can watch.
The Detail That Earns Its Place [H]	Choose details that do a job instead of filling space.
Dialogue That Does a Job [H]	Keep the lines that change something and cut the ones that do not.
Slowing Down the Part That Matters [H]	Spend sentences in proportion to what a moment is worth.
One Narrator, One Time [H]	Hold a story in the same tense and the same person all the way through.
An Ending That Lands [H]	End by showing what is different now.
The Shape of a Story [H]	Name the job each sentence in a story is doing.

Revising & Editing · 9 topics

Revising and Editing Are Different Jobs [M]	Tell a change that fixes what a piece says from one that fixes how it is written.
Cutting Words That Do No Work [H]	Cut the words that repeat something the sentence has already said.
Pronouns That Point at Nothing [H]	Find a pronoun a reader cannot trace back and rewrite it so they can.
The Sentence in the Wrong Place [H]	Find the sentence a reader meets before they can understand it.
Where the Describing Words Landed [H]	Put a describing phrase next to the thing it is supposed to describe.
Lists That Match [H]	Build every item in a list out of the same kind of phrase.
Tense That Slips [H]	Keep a whole piece in one tense, and put a slipped sentence back.
What a Spellchecker Cannot Catch [H]	Catch a correctly spelled word that is the wrong word.
Finding the Error and Naming It [H]	Find the one error in a sentence, name what kind it is, and fix just that.

Research & Reference Skills · 9 topics

A Question Worth Researching [M]	Turn a subject into a question that sources can actually settle.
The Words Worth Searching [H]	Pull the searchable words out of a research question.
Choosing the Right Reference Work [H]	Match a research need to the reference work built to answer it.
Finding It Inside the Book [H]	Use contents, index, glossary and title page for what each is for.
Guide Words and Alphabetical Order [H]	Use guide words to decide whether a word is on a page.
Does This Source Answer My Question? [H]	Tell a source that answers your question from one that merely shares it.
Who Wrote It, and Why [H]	Weigh a source by its author, its date and its purpose.
Notes in Your Own Words [H]	Take a note that carries the idea without carrying the sentence.
Naming Where It Came From [H]	Record a source completely enough that a reader could find it.

Grade 8 Reading & Language · 9 topics

The One Thing It Is All Serving [H]	State the idea a whole text is built to serve when it is never printed, and write a summary that carries the point instead of the best detail.
The Line You Would Put Your Finger On [H]	Pick the one detail that settles a particular claim, and say why the other true details do not reach it.
What the Text Made True Without Printing It [H]	Build an answer the writer never wrote, from clues on the page plus what you know, and stop exactly where the clues stop.
The Shape, and the Job of One Part [H]	Name how a text is built, and explain what one paragraph, line or stage direction is doing in the place where it sits.
What the Whole Thing Says About People [H]	State a text's theme as a sentence about people, and check it against the ending the writer actually chose.
What You Know That They Do Not [H]	Track the gap between what you have been told and what a person inside the text knows, in stories and in true accounts alike.
Word Choice, and What It Is Doing to You [H]	Settle a word's meaning from the sentences around it, and name what the writer's particular choice of word is doing to the reader.
How Far the Evidence Actually Reaches [H]	Separate a claim from its reasons and evidence, judge whether the evidence reaches as far as the claim goes, and spot a piece that does not belong at all.
When Two Accounts Do Not Agree [H]	Work out whether two texts on one subject disagree about a fact, about an interpretation, or about nothing at all.

Prerequisite material - taught automatically when the diagnostic finds gaps

Phonological & Phonemic Awareness · 7 topics

Hearing Rhymes	Tell when two words end with the same sound.
Counting Syllables	Break a word into its beats.
Hearing the First Sound	Tell which sound a word starts with.
Hearing the Last Sound	Tell which sound a word ends with.
Hearing the Middle Vowel Sound	Find the vowel sound in the middle of a short word.
Blending Sounds into Words	Push separate sounds together to make a word.
Words That Begin Alike	Group words by their beginning sound.

Phonics: Letters, Sounds & Short Vowels · 5 topics

Capital and Lowercase Letters	Match every capital letter to its lowercase partner.
Letter Sounds	Say the sound each letter stands for.
Short Vowel Sounds	Hear and write the five short vowel sounds.
Reading Short Words	Sound out and read consonant-vowel-consonant words.
Word Families	Read a whole set of words by learning one ending.

High-Frequency Words & Sight Vocabulary · 2 topics

Recognizing High-Frequency Words	Know the most common words on sight, instantly.
High-Frequency Words in Sentences	Use common words correctly inside a real sentence.

Print Concepts & Early Comprehension · 3 topics

How Books and Print Work	Know the parts of a book and which way print goes.
Listening Comprehension	Understand a story that is read out loud to you.
What Happened First, Next, Last	Put the events of a story in the order they happened.

Sentence & Capitalization Basics · 4 topics

What Makes a Sentence	Tell a complete sentence from a group of words.
Naming Part and Telling Part	Split a sentence into who it is about and what happens.
Capital Letters and End Marks	Start every sentence with a capital and end it with a mark.
Choosing the Right End Mark	Use a period, question mark, or exclamation point.

Prefixes & Suffixes · 8 topics

Finding the Base Word	Strip the extra parts off a word to find the word underneath.
What a Prefix Means	Know what the common prefixes do to a word.
Using a Prefix to Read a Word	Work out what a prefixed word means without being told.
What a Suffix Means	Know what the common suffixes add to a word.
Using a Suffix to Read a Word	Work out what a word with a suffix means.
Reading a Word You Have Never Seen	Work out an unfamiliar word from its prefix, base, and suffix.
Endings Change a Word's Job	See how a suffix turns one kind of word into another.
Choosing the Right Form	Pick the form of a word that a sentence actually needs.

Context Clues (Grades 2-3) · 8 topics

When the Sentence Just Tells You	Find a word's meaning written into the sentence itself.
A Nearby Word That Means the Same	Use a synonym elsewhere in the passage to unlock a word.
When a Contrast Points the Other Way	Use a contrast word to work out the opposite meaning.
Working Back From Examples	Use a list of examples to work out the category.
When There Is No Clue Word	Work out a meaning from the whole situation.
Naming the Clue	Say which kind of context clue a sentence is using.
Putting Your Guess Back In	Check a guessed meaning by reading the sentence again with it.
Words With More Than One Meaning	Choose the meaning a sentence needs, not the one you thought of first.

Retelling, Sequence & Summary · 7 topics

Who the Story Is About	Name the character a story follows.
First, Next, and Last	Say what happened first, what came in between, and what came last.
Putting the Whole Story in Order	Arrange all the events of a story from beginning to end.
Finding the Problem	Name what goes wrong in a story.
Finding the Solution	Say how a story's problem gets resolved.
Summarizing a Story	Retell a story keeping only what matters.
Knowing What to Leave Out	Spot the detail a summary does not need.

Main Idea & Supporting Details · 6 topics

Topic or Main Idea?	Tell what a text is about from what it says about it.
Finding the Main Idea	Say in one sentence what a whole text is telling you.
Main Ideas That Are Not Written Down	Work out the main idea when no sentence states it.
Details That Back It Up	Find the fact in a text that supports a particular idea.
Writing a Summary	Retell a text keeping only what matters.
Telling a Detail from the Main Idea	Spot the sentence that is only a detail.

Text Structure in Nonfiction · 8 topics

Words That Give the Shape Away	Spot the words and sentences that tell you how a nonfiction text is organized.
Description: Groups, Parts and Kinds	Recognize a text that describes one thing closely or sorts things into kinds.
Sequence: Time Order and Steps	Follow a text built on the order things happen or the order they are done.
Compare and Contrast	Read a text that sets two things side by side and says how they are alike and different.
Cause and Effect	Trace a text where each thing described makes the next thing happen.
Problem and Solution	Read a text that states a difficulty and then what was done about it.
Naming the Structure of a Whole Text	Decide which structure a whole passage is built on, and notice when it uses more than one.
Why the Writer Chose That Shape	Explain what a text's structure does for the reader, and what would be lost in another shape.

Reading in Science: Life Science (Grades 2-4) · 7 topics

The Main Idea of a Science Text	Find what a science passage is really explaining.
Science Words Defined in Place	Work out a technical word from the sentence that introduces it.
Following a Process in Order	Track the steps of a life cycle or a process.
Cause and Effect in Science	Say why something happens, using the text.
Comparing Two Living Things	Say how two organisms or processes differ, and why.
Finding the Evidence	Point to the sentence that proves a claim.
What the Science Actually Says	Use what the passage taught you to answer a real science question.

Reading in Social Studies: American History (2-4) · 7 topics

The Main Idea of a History Text	Find what a history passage is really about.
Putting Events in Time Order	Work out what happened first, and how much time passed.
History Words in Context	Work out what a historical term means from the text around it.
Causes and Consequences	Explain why something happened, and what it led to.
Evidence in a History Text	Point to the detail that actually proves a claim.
Whose Story Is Being Told	Notice whose point of view a history text takes, and who is missing.
What the History Actually Says	Use what the passage taught you to answer a real history question.

Nouns & Verbs · 5 topics

What a Noun Is	Name the words that stand for a person, place, or thing.
What a Verb Is	Name the words that tell what someone does.
Finding the Verb in a Sentence	Pick out the verb inside a whole sentence.
Making the Verb Match	Choose a verb form that matches one thing or many things.
Finding Both Parts	Pick out the noun and the verb in the same sentence.

Sentence Types, Fragments & Run-Ons · 5 topics

Spotting a Fragment	Tell when a group of words stops before it is a sentence.
Spotting a Run-On	Notice when two sentences have been jammed into one.
Three Ways to Fix a Run-On	Repair a run-on, and choose the repair that fits the meaning.
Joining Two Sentences	Combine short sentences with the joining word the meaning needs.
Sentence, Fragment, or Run-On?	Sort any group of words into complete, too short, or too long.

Writing Strong Sentences · 6 topics

Knowing When You Have a Sentence	Tell a finished sentence from a piece of one.
Saying More Than the Bare Fact	Add detail that answers a question a reader would ask.
Verbs That Do the Work	Choose a verb precise enough to replace a description.
Naming the Thing Exactly	Replace a category word with the actual thing.
Joining Two Sentences	Put two related sentences together without making a run-on.
Choosing the Right Joining Word	Pick the joining word that states the real relationship.

Paragraphs & Topic Sentences · 5 topics

The Sentence the Others Are About	Find or choose the sentence a paragraph is built on.
The Sentence That Does Not Belong	Spot a sentence that wanders off the paragraph's point.
Details That Actually Support	Choose detail that backs the claim you made.
Ending Without Adding	Close a paragraph by landing the point, not opening a new one.
Where One Paragraph Ends	Find the point where a new idea starts and split there.

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