Give your eighth-graders the focused language arts practice they need to keep their language skills sharp. 36 weeks of practice cover standards-based skills such as:Vocabulary/Word Study- affixes- analogies- base/root words- figurative language- homophones- idioms- spellingPunctuation - end of sentence- apostrophes: contractions and possessives- commas: series, dates, addresses, direct address/interjections, compound sentences, after an introductory phrase/clause, and with nonrestrictive appositives- punctuation and capitalization: dialogue and friendly business letters- quotation marks: songs, poems, and short stories- unnecessary commas- run-on sentences- semicolons, dashes, and parenthesesCapitalization- beginning of a sentence- books, songs, and poems- proper nounsGrammar and Usage- active/passive voice- conjunctions- correct article, adjective, adverb- comparative/superlative- predicate adjectives and nouns- easily confused words- sentences: parts, types, structure, fragments, and combining- verbs: parts, tense, usage, and spelling- nouns: possessive, singular/plural, and concrete/abstract - pronouns: subject/object, possessive, and antecedents- prepositional phrases/prepositions/objects of a preposition- double negativesOther Skills- dictionary guide words- syllabication- outlines