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Grade 8

Language

NOTE: Updates to the Language learning activities are in progress to align with Ontario’s new 2023 Curriculum Documents.

How to Use These Resources

TVO Learn is designed to meet each student where they are on their learning journey. Learning Activities are comprehensive and require guided instruction from an adult, while Resources for Learning, Apply the Learning prompts and Vocabulary lists work well to reinforce specific skills or to enable independent exploration of a subject. Use these helpful tips to get the most from TVO Learn.

Curriculum Overview

Language development is central to students’ intellectual, social, and emotional growth, and should be seen as a key element of the curriculum. The language curriculum is based on the belief that literacy is critical to responsible and productive citizenship. The curriculum is designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills they need to achieve this goal.

In grade 8, students are encouraged to explore issues related to personal identity and community concerns as they interact with increasingly complex and challenging texts. Students are asked to critically analyse and evaluate perspectives in texts and the influence of media on their lives. They are asked to write about and discuss topics of relevance that matter in their daily lives. In the language expectations the use of knowledge, skills, and strategies are used to facilitate learning in other subjects areas as a tool to help students understand real world applications in order to participate in society.

The language curriculum is divided into four strands:

  • Oral Communication
  • Reading
  • Writing
  • Media Literacy

Interested in learning more? View Curriculum PDF
For French resources, please visit idello.org

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Learning Activities

Learning Activities provide opportunity for deeper exploration of a subject. Organized by grade and topic (or strand), students should be guided through each Learning Activity by an adult. Before clicking on a topic to prepare for or begin this guided instruction, be sure to read these helpful tips about how to get the most out of TVO Learn.

Learning Activities provide opportunity for deeper exploration of a subject. Organized by grade and topic (or strand), students should be guided through each Learning Activity by an adult. Before clicking on a topic to prepare for or begin this guided instruction, be sure to read these helpful tips about how to get the most out of TVO Learn.

Learning Activities
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To access this learning activity, please visit this page in a desktop or tablet browser.

Learning Activity 1
Put Your Attentiveness Strategies to Use
Learning Activity 2
Understanding Information
Learning Activity 3
Interpreting Texts
Learning Activity 4
Deeper Understanding of Texts
Learning Activity 5
Isn't it Ironic?
Learning Activity 6
Presentation Strategies
Learning Activity 7
Adapting Our Communication
Learning Activity 8
Clear Communication
Learning Activity 9
Using Figurative Language
Learning Activity 10
Communicating Through a Speech
Learning Activity 11
Using Presentation Aids
Learning Activity 12
Improving Our Communication Skills

Learning Activity 1
Word Study
Learning Activity 2
Nonfiction Texts
Learning Activity 3
Predictions and Conclusions
Learning Activity 4
Main Idea
Learning Activity 5
Metaphors in Poems
Learning Activity 6
Making Connections
Learning Activity 7
Asking Questions
Learning Activity 8
Extending Our Understanding
Learning Activity 9
Reading a Script
Learning Activity 10
The Power of Poetry
Learning Activity 11
Organizational Patterns: Cause and Effect
Learning Activity 12
Different Points of View

Learning Activity 1
The Limerick
Learning Activity 2
Free Verse Poem
Learning Activity 3
Flyer and Brochure Writing
Learning Activity 4
Procedural Writing
Learning Activity 5
Personal Memoir Writing
Learning Activity 6
Opinions, Facts and Fake Facts
Learning Activity 7
Point of View Writing and Debates
Learning Activity 8
Comparative Report Writing
Learning Activity 9
News Report Writing
Learning Activity 10
Author and Style
Learning Activity 11
Science Fiction and Fantasy Genre
Learning Activity 12
Research Writing

Learning Activity 1
Advertising Techniques
Learning Activity 2
Fact, Opinion, or Bias?
Learning Activity 3
Advertising and Marketing
Learning Activity 4
It's All About The Packaging!
Learning Activity 5
Understanding the Conventions of Media Text Forms: Infographic Posters and Jingles
Learning Activity 6
The Editorial Process
Learning Activity 7
Perspectives in Media Texts
Learning Activity 8
Principles for Ethical Journalism
Learning Activity 9
The Purpose of Online Media Texts
Learning Activity 10
Website Features
Learning Activity 11
Public Service Announcements
Learning Activity 12
Product Placements in Media

Resources for Learning

Chosen by TVO educators, these resources support the curriculum outlined above. Review the below list of options along with the activities. Then, read, watch, listen or play to build understanding and knowledge.

Please be aware by accessing the resources below you will be leaving TVO Learn and entering other TVO domains that are subject to different privacy policies and terms of use.

Complete the suggested activities using these resources and other TVO resources.

Apply the Learning

Choose from the following to consolidate learning across all curriculum strands.

  • Create a poster for a "knock-off" of a popular product. How can you take it and reinvent it?
  • Identify the topic, purpose, and audience in one of these articles or videos on dance and how movement relates to language.
  • Pick one of the people interviewed in the videos. Devise five questions you would ask them to learn more about their experiences.
  • List three music artists that you like and explain why/how they have had an impact on you.
  • Use a graphic organizer to state the main idea, supporting arguments, and the author’s purpose and point of view.
  • Create your own definitions for 20 of the words in the vocabulary list.
  • Organize one of the topics into a KWL chart.
  • Compare and appraise media techniques used within the articles and videos in a graphic organizer.
  • Create a word cloud of high-frequency words using notes from throughout your observations on debates.

Vocabulary

Review this list of vocabulary associated with the curriculum. Practice spelling, research definitions, and find these vocabulary words when engaging with the TVO resources or completing learning activities.

Students should understand and be able to apply these words in context.

audience

blog

comprehension

concept map

conventions

critical literacy

critical thinking

culture

diversity

editing

elements of text

graphic novel

homonym

homophone

hyperbole

hyperlink

idiom

imagery

inclusive language

inferring

irony

media

metacognition

paraphrase

point of view

revising

stereotype

storyboard

summarizing

synonym

syntax

synthesis

text

voice

webcast

web page

webquest

website

zine

Looking for a Different Subject?

Choose from the options below to explore a different grade 8 subject.