South Dakota ELA 8.W.6.d

ELA8th GradeWriting

The Standard

8.W.6: Use technology, including digital tools/platforms, to format, produce, and publish writing.

Demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to produce writing with stamina in a single sitting.

South Dakota English Language Arts Standards (2025)

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students type their own writing for a sustained block of time. They use the keyboard to add words, punctuation, and corrections without losing track of their ideas.
What Mastery Looks Like: Given a prompt and 15 minutes, a student produces a readable draft in one sitting. They keep writing while handling capitals, punctuation, and small errors.
Common Misconceptions: Some students think typing fast matters more than getting their ideas down. Others stop at every typo or spend so long searching for keys that they lose their next sentence.
How to Assess It: Set a 15-minute timer and ask, 'Should schools allow phones at lunch? Give your view and two reasons.' Watch for repeated stops to find keys, then check for a complete typed response.

Lesson moves

Give students a printed paragraph to type for five minutes, then have them mark the keys that slowed them on a paper keyboard.
Ask students to write two sentences about what interrupts their typing, then share one useful habit with a partner.
Run a typing relay: students type a sentence from a card, fix errors, then draw another card for ten minutes.
Have students type a 15-minute email draft to a school club leader proposing one change to a club meeting.

Free download

A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to 8.W.6.d, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

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

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