Middle School Grammar Goals for IEPs

Browse CCS-aligned IEP goals and objectives for grammar and complete sentences.

Middle School Grammar & Complete Sentences Goals

These grammar goals for students in 6th to 8th grades cover the mechanics of writing, from capitalizing the first word in a sentence to the nuances of capitalization, commas, and quotations. Not seeing the grade level or skill you need? Check out our elementary schoolmiddle school, and high school grammar goals.
  • Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.6.2
  • Least time: Ask the student to write you a paragraph on a topic of their choice or pull a sample of their independent writing from class. The catch is that you need to tell the student that you are looking at the grammar in it. You don’t want to write a goal on complete sentences only to discover that the student was just being lazy.
  • More of an assessment: Use our free intervention placement test packet. We have an editing for complete sentences and grammar baseline in there that will give you a sense of what the student can do. K-12 reader also has some worksheets that work to get a baseline for this goal.

Looking for easy-to-use assessment resources or support with turning assessments into goals and present levels? Check out the IEP Success Kit in the store!

In his independent writing, Mason is inconsistent in his use of punctuation. He will often capitalize arbitrary words in a sentence and put commas in unusual places. When he is asked to edit for complete sentences, he will add periods in, often creating new sentence fragments. 

For more baseline ideas, check out the IEP Success Kit!

  • Given a piece of his/her own writing to revise, Name will demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization and punctuation when writing by editing it so that 75% of all sentences are complete with correct capitalization as measured by teacher records and observations. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.6.2
  • Change what the student is editing for
    • … by editing it so that quotation marks, commas, and contractions are correctly used on three of four opportunities
    • …by correcting sentence fragments and run-on sentences so that 75% of sentences in the text are complete
    • …by correcting missing or inappropriately used capital letters and apostrophes
  • Change what the student is editing
    • Given a teacher-created paragraph with grammatical errors,
    • Given ten run-on sentences to correct,
  • Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.7.2
  • Least time: Ask the student to write you a paragraph on a topic of their choice or pull a sample of their independent writing from class. The catch is that you need to tell the student that you are looking at the grammar in it. You don’t want to write a goal on complete sentences only to discover that the student was just being lazy.
  • More of an assessment: Use our free intervention placement test packet. We have an editing for complete sentences and grammar baseline in there that will give you a sense of what the student can do. K-12 reader also has some worksheets that work to get a baseline for this goal.

Looking for easy-to-use assessment resources or support with turning assessments into goals and present levels? Check out the IEP Success Kit in the store!

Given a writing sample to correct, Liam can identify 66% of run-on sentences or sentence fragments and correct 33%. In his classroom writing, Liam correctly punctuates about 50% of his sentences.

For more baseline ideas, check out the IEP Success Kit!

  • Given a piece of his/her own writing to revise, Name will demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization and punctuation when writing by editing it so that 75% of all sentences are complete with correct capitalization as measured by teacher records and observations. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.7.2
  • Change what the student is editing for
    • … by editing it so that quotation marks, commas, and contractions are correctly used on three of four opportunities
    • …by correcting sentence fragments and run-on sentences so that 75% of sentences in the text are complete
    • …by correcting missing or inappropriately used capital letters and apostrophes
  • Change what the student is editing
    • Given a teacher-created paragraph with grammatical errors,
    • Given ten run-on sentences to correct,
  • Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.8.2
  • Least time: Ask the student to write you a paragraph on a topic of their choice or pull a sample of their independent writing from class. The catch is that you need to tell the student that you are looking at the grammar in it. You don’t want to write a goal on complete sentences only to discover that the student was just being lazy.
  • More of an assessment: Use our free intervention placement test packet. We have an editing for complete sentences and grammar baseline in there that will give you a sense of what the student can do. K-12 reader also has some worksheets that work to get a baseline for this goal.

Looking for easy-to-use assessment resources or support with turning assessments into goals and present levels? Check out the IEP Success Kit in the store!

In her essays and stories, Naima brings in dialogue and quotations, but rarely uses quotation marks or other punctuation, which can make the work challenging to read. In editing activities, Naima can correct for complete sentences with 75% accuracy, but catches misplaced quotation marks and capitalization errors only 25% of the time.

For more baseline ideas, check out the IEP Success Kit!

  • Given a piece of his/her own writing to revise, Name will demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization and punctuation when writing by editing it so that 75% of all sentences are complete with correct capitalization as measured by teacher records and observations. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.8.2
  • Change what the student is editing for
    • … by editing it so that quotation marks, commas, and contractions are correctly used on three of four opportunities
    • …by correcting sentence fragments and run-on sentences so that 75% of sentences in the text are complete
    • …by correcting missing or inappropriately used capital letters and apostrophes
  • Change what the student is editing
    • Given a teacher-created paragraph with grammatical errors,
    • Given ten run-on sentences to correct,