Kentucky Reading and Writing C.8.5

ELA8th GradeComposition

The Standard

Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating new avenues for inquiry.

Kentucky Academic Standards for Reading and Writing (2025) · Research to Build and Present Knowledge

Teacher's field guide

What This Standard Means

What Students Need to Do: Students choose or write a focused question for a short research project. They use several sources to answer it and identify a new question raised by what they find.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can narrow a broad topic like food waste to a question about unopened lunch items. They can answer it with details from different sources and name something the sources leave unanswered.
Common Misconceptions: Students may count three pages from one website as three independent sources. They may collect facts that do not answer their question or stop researching after finding one answer.
How to Assess It: Put three short excerpts about cafeteria waste on the board. Ask students to write a question the excerpts can answer, support their answer with facts from two excerpts, and add one follow-up question.

Lesson moves

Ways to Teach It

Pairs underline answers to 'Why is lunch wasted?' in three printed articles, then post one new question on a sticky note.
Ask: 'Which source best explains why lunches get thrown away, and what does it leave unanswered?' Have students write a two-sentence reply.
Play Source Match: students match six fact cards to three cafeteria waste sources, then choose two facts to answer a question.
Compare the posted lunch menu, the district nutrition page, and a quick class poll about leftovers, then draft a question for the cafeteria manager.

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