South Dakota ELA 8.L.2.c

ELA8th GradeLanguage

The Standard

8.L.2: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

Spell correctly, recognizing that some words have commonly accepted variations.

South Dakota English Language Arts Standards (2025)

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students spell words accurately in their writing and check unfamiliar words in a dictionary. They recognize that gray and grey are both accepted spellings.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student fixes recieve to receive without marking grey as an error. They can check a dictionary and use one spelling of a variant consistently in a paragraph.
Common Misconceptions: Students may call grey wrong because they usually see gray. Others assume a plausible spelling like recieve must be an accepted variant.
How to Assess It: Use this exit ticket: Fix the error in “I recieved a grey sweater after our trip was cancelled.” Then name two words in the sentence with accepted alternate spellings.

Lesson moves

Have students sort cards labeled receive, recieve, gray, grey, canceled, and cancelled, then check each word in a dictionary.
Ask partners: Why is grey acceptable but recieve is not? Have them write a two-sentence explanation.
Run a correction relay: teams fix recieve, definately, and seperate while leaving grey and cancelled unchanged.
Show paint labels using gray and grey, then have students write a customer order using one spelling consistently.

Free download

A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to 8.L.2.c, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.

Keep exploring

Grade, subject, topic, and the complete standard are prefilled. Create one free, no account needed.