Unit Plan 34 (Grade 8 ELA): Revising & Editing for Precision & Effect
8th graders refine writing precision by mastering verbals, voice, and mood, while using commas, ellipses, and dashes for clarity and effect. Through structured revision, students strengthen grammar, punctuation, style, and overall cohesion.
Focus: Grammar/usage (verbals, voice, mood); punctuation (comma/ellipsis/dash); style & cohesion
Grade Level: 8
Subject Area: English Language Arts (Language—Conventions & Style; Writing—Revision)
Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 50–60 minutes per session
I. Introduction
Good drafts become strong writing through targeted revision. This week, students tune sentences for precision and effect by mastering verbals (gerunds, participles, infinitives), making purposeful voice (active/passive) and mood choices (indicative, imperative, interrogative, conditional, subjunctive), and using punctuation as craft (comma, ellipsis, dash). They’ll run structured revision passes on a recent draft so style and cohesion noticeably improve.
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to…
- Identify and use verbals accurately; choose active or passive voice and verb mood to fit purpose and audience (L.8.1a–c).
- Apply punctuation for meaning—commas for clarity and flow, ellipses for omission/hesitation where appropriate, and dashes for emphasis or parenthetical breaks—while maintaining correct capitalization and spelling (L.8.2a–c).
- Revise and edit their own writing with feedback, strengthening clarity, style, and cohesion through multiple passes (W.8.5).
Standards Alignment — CCSS Grade 8
- L.8.1a–c: Use verbals; form and use active/passive voice; recognize and use verb moods.
- L.8.2a–c: Use punctuation (comma, ellipsis, dash) to indicate a pause/break; maintain conventions of capitalization and spelling.
- W.8.5: Develop and strengthen writing by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
Success Criteria — student language
- I can spot and fix misused verbals and dangling/misplaced modifiers.
- I can explain why I chose active (or passive) and which mood best fits my sentence.
- My commas, ellipses, and dashes clarify meaning—not clutter it—and I can justify each choice.
- My revised draft reads cohesively with smooth transitions, varied syntax, and consistent tone.