Grade 8 English · Developing Skilled Readers and Building Reading Stamina
Virginia SOL 8.DSR
Virginia SOL 8.DSR is part of the Developing Skilled Readers and Building Reading Stamina strand in Grade 8 English (English). Under this Standards of Learning objective, students build knowledge and comprehension skills from reading a range of challenging, content-rich texts, including fluent reading, gathering evidence, reading widely, and using reading strategies. Below is what 8.DSR covers in plain language, the specific skills it is assessed on, the key concepts to review, and how to practice 8.DSR for the Virginia SOL test.
What SOL 8.DSR means
Build knowledge and comprehension skills from reading a range of challenging, content-rich texts, including fluent reading, gathering evidence, reading widely, and using reading strategies.
Practice Grade 8 English SOL questions
Free Grade 8 English questions from official Virginia Department of Education released SOL tests — good practice while you work on 8.DSR and the rest of the course. Pick an answer to check it instantly, or open “Show answer” to review.
1. What does the word anecdotes mean in paragraph 3?
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Answer: B — personal stories
2. In paragraph 9, the word belligerent means —
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Answer: F — hostile or argumentative
3. In paragraphs 9–12, the description of Mrs. Watson presents her as —
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Answer: B — angry and lonely
4. In paragraph 15, Mrs. Watson’s eyes suggest that she is —
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Answer: F — interested
Skills you’ll practice for 8.DSR
- Reading with accuracy
- Reading with automaticity
- Reading with appropriate rate
- Reading with meaningful expression
- Monitoring while reading
- Self-correcting word recognition and understanding
- Proficiently read and comprehend a variety of literary and informational texts that exhibit complexity at the higher range of the grades 6-8 band
- Drawing evidence from grade-level complex texts
- Supporting claims, conclusions, and inferences
- Quoting or paraphrasing from texts accurately
- Tracing where relevant evidence is located
- Regularly engage in reading a series of conceptually related texts organized around topics of study to build knowledge and vocabulary. Use this background knowledge as context for new learning
- Using reading strategies to aid and monitor comprehension
- Attending to text structure
- Attending to common organizational structures
- Summarizing
- Asking questions of the text
Key concepts covered by 8.DSR
- reading
- accuracy
- fluency
- automaticity
- rate
- expression
- monitoring
- comprehension
- self-correction
- word recognition
- understanding
- proficient reading
- literary texts
- informational texts
- text complexity
- textual evidence
- drawing evidence
- complex texts
- claims
- conclusions
- inferences
- support
- quoting
- paraphrasing
- tracing evidence
- relevant evidence
- deep reading
- related texts
- build knowledge
- vocabulary
- background knowledge
- reading strategies
- monitor comprehension
- aid comprehension
- text structure
- organizational structures
- summarizing
- asking questions
How to study and practice SOL 8.DSR
Start with a quick diagnostic to see whether 8.DSR is already solid, then work each skill above with guided notes, flashcards, and SOL-style practice questions. For official released items, see our Virginia SOL practice tests guide and how to study for the SOL test.
Frequently asked questions about SOL 8.DSR
What is Virginia SOL 8.DSR?
SOL 8.DSR is a Grade 8 English Standard of Learning in the Developing Skilled Readers and Building Reading Stamina strand. It expects students to build knowledge and comprehension skills from reading a range of challenging, content-rich texts, including fluent reading, gathering evidence, reading widely, and using reading strategies.
What skills does SOL 8.DSR cover?
SOL 8.DSR is assessed on 17 skills: reading with accuracy; reading with automaticity; reading with appropriate rate; reading with meaningful expression; monitoring while reading; self-correcting word recognition and understanding; proficiently read and comprehend a variety of literary and informational texts that exhibit complexity at the higher range of the grades 6-8 band; drawing evidence from grade-level complex texts; supporting claims, conclusions, and inferences; quoting or paraphrasing from texts accurately; tracing where relevant evidence is located; regularly engage in reading a series of conceptually related texts organized around topics of study to build knowledge and vocabulary. Use this background knowledge as context for new learning; using reading strategies to aid and monitor comprehension; attending to text structure; attending to common organizational structures; summarizing; asking questions of the text.
What strand of Grade 8 English is SOL 8.DSR in?
SOL 8.DSR belongs to the Developing Skilled Readers and Building Reading Stamina reporting strand of the Grade 8 English Virginia Standards of Learning.
How do I study and practice for SOL 8.DSR?
Start with a diagnostic to see whether 8.DSR is already solid, then work the 17 skills above with guided notes, flashcards, and SOL-style practice questions. For official released items, see the Virginia SOL practice tests guide.