ELA Standards
We've built 1,000+ research-based writing, grammar, and proofreading activities organized by the Common Core standards. We are a nonprofit organization, and all of our activities are and will always be free. Each of our activities takes approximately 10-15 minutes. Teachers using Quill in a 1:1 classroom tend to assign Quill activities as a warm up exercise at the beginning of a class or as a group activity with the whole class.
8.1b Form and use verbs in the active and passive voice
Active & Passive Sentences 1
Students practice using active and passive voice by rewriting sentences in either active or passive voice based on the instructions.
Changing Active to Passive Voice - Civic Engagement
Students practice using passive voice by rewriting active voice sentences in passive voice. This activity could be paired with novels like "All American Boys" by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely.
Changing from Active to Passive 1
Students practice using passive voice by rewriting active voice sentences in passive voice.
Changing from Passive to Active 1
Students practice using active voice by rewriting passive voice sentences in active voice.
Changing Passive to Active Voice - Peaceful Protests
Students practice using active voice by rewriting passive voice sentences in active voice. This activity could be paired with novels like "All American Boys" by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely.
Proofreading Verb Tenses - The African God Bumba
Students find and correct past participle errors within a text.
8.1c Form and use verbs in the indicative, imperative, interrogative, conditional, and subjunctive mood
Mood & Tense Consistency - Fast Fashion
Students practice choosing between various verbs moods and tenses by filling in the blank with one of the provided options.
Subjunctive Mood - Everyday Environmental Choices
Students practice forming sentences in subjunctive mood by combining two sentences into subjunctive mood complex sentences.
8.1d Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in verb voice and mood
Correcting Verb Voice Shifts - Geographic Name Changes
Students practice using consistent verb voice by rewriting sentences with verb voice shifts in active voice. This activity could be paired with works of literature like "Persepolis" by Marjane Satrapi.
Inappropriate Shifts in Mood & Tense 1
Students practice using subjunctive mood and consistent verb tense by rewriting sentences using the correct underlined option.
Verb Voice Consistency - Headwear & Hair Coverings
Students practice using consistent verb voice by combining sentences with verb voice shifts in active voice. This activity could be paired with works of literature like "Persepolis" by Marjane Satrapi.
8.2a Use punctuation (comma, ellipsis, dash) to indicate a pause or break
Ellipses for Omission - Animal Farm Quotes
Students practice using ellipses for omission within quotes. An understanding of Animal Farm helps but is not necessary to complete this activity.
Em Dashes - Totalitarianism during World War II
Students practice writing with em dashes by combining sentences. Students must place the describing phrase in between the em dashes. This activity could be paired with "Animal Farm" by George Orwell.
CCSS Grade 8 Formative Assessments
Proofreading - American Tennis Player Francis Tiafoe
Students find and correct a variety of errors within a text.
Proofreading - Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat
Students correct a variety errors within a text. The errors in the text are underlined.
Proofreading - Bee Gardens
Students find and correct a variety of errors within a text.
Proofreading - Cactus Photosynthesis
Students find and correct a variety of errors within a text.
Proofreading - Global Warming 1
Students find and correct a variety of errors within a text.
Proofreading - Global Warming 2
Students find and correct a variety of errors within a text.
Proofreading - Impressionism
Students find and correct a variety of errors within a text.
Proofreading - Michelle Obama
Students find and correct a variety of errors within a text.
Proofreading - Pop Art
Students find and correct a variety of errors within a text.
Proofreading - Sacred Mountains
Students find and correct a variety of errors within a text.
Proofreading - The Eiffel Tower
Students find and correct a variety of errors within a text.
Proofreading - The Harlem Renaissance
Students find and correct a variety of errors within a text.
Proofreading - The Little Prince
Students find and correct a variety of errors within a text.
Proofreading - The New York City Ballet
Students find and correct a variety of errors within a text.
Proofreading - The Supremes
Students find and correct a variety of errors within a text.
Proofreading - What Does Space Smell Like?
Students find and correct a variety of errors within a text.
Proofreading - What is the “Space Cemetery”?
Students find and correct a variety of errors within a text.
Proofreading - Why Did NASA Crash a Spacecraft into an Asteroid?
Students find and correct a variety of errors within a text.
Underlined Proofreading - Chinese Porcelain Ceramics
Students correct a variety errors within a text. The errors in the text are underlined.
Underlined Proofreading - Immune System
Students correct a variety errors within a text.The errors in the text are underlined.
Underlined Proofreading - Middle Eastern Cuisine
Students correct a variety errors within a text.The errors in the text are underlined.
Underlined Proofreading - New York, Paris, & Rome
Students correct a variety errors within a text.The errors in the text are underlined.
Underlined Proofreading - Serena Williams
Students correct a variety errors within a text.The errors in the text are underlined.
Underlined Proofreading - The History of Music Festivals
Students correct a variety errors within a text.The errors in the text are underlined.
Underlined Proofreading - U.S. Service Academies
Students correct a variety errors within a text. The errors in the text are underlined.