Grammar, Syntax & Morphology IEP goals for middle school (grades 6 to 8)
18 of the grammar, syntax & morphology templates in the library are written for middle school (grades 6 to 8). Each opens in the builder, where the grade band is a starting point and the baseline comes from your own assessment.
18 templates · 1 skill · 6–8 · How we write and review goals
Goals by skill
Numbers are illustrative; set targets from the student's own baseline.
Grammar, Syntax & Morphology Speech & Language
Use irregular past tense verbs
Irregular past tense
By the annual IEP review date, given 10 picture pairs showing a common irregular verb action in progress and then completed and asked "What happened?", the student will produce the correct irregular past tense form (such as "went," "ate," "caught") independently with at least 80% accuracy on obligatory contexts for irregular past tense, across 3 consecutive therapy sessions, as measured by opportunity-by-opportunity data collected during each therapy session.
Combine short sentences into one complex sentence
Sentence combining
By the annual IEP review date, given 10 pairs of short spoken sentences and asked to say them as one sentence, the student will combine the two sentences into one grammatical complex sentence using a subordinating conjunction (such as because, when, if, although, after) independently with at least 80% accuracy on sentence pairs, across 3 consecutive therapy sessions, as measured by opportunity-by-opportunity data collected during each therapy session.
Produce sentences with relative clauses
Relative clauses and passive sentences
By the annual IEP review date, given 10 pairs of short sentences that share a noun and asked to say them as one sentence with who, which, or that, the student will produce a grammatical sentence that contains a relative clause (who, which, that) describing a noun independently with at least 80% accuracy on sentence prompts, across 3 consecutive therapy sessions, as measured by opportunity-by-opportunity data collected during each therapy session.
Find and fix the grammar error in a sentence
Grammaticality judgment and repair
By the annual IEP review date, given 10 spoken sentences, about half containing an error in a taught structure (tense, agreement, pronoun, plural), the student will judge whether each sentence is correct and fix the ones that are not independently with at least 85% accuracy on sentences judged and corrected, across 3 consecutive therapy sessions, as measured by opportunity-by-opportunity data collected during each therapy session.
Produce grammatically complete sentences in conversation
Grammatical sentences in conversation
By the annual IEP review date, during a 5-minute conversation with the SLP about a topic of the student's choice, the student will produce utterances that are grammatically complete (subject and verb present, taught structures used correctly) in the student's dialect independently with at least 85% accuracy on utterances in the sample, across 3 consecutive weekly conversation samples, as measured by opportunity-by-opportunity data collected weekly.
Produce complex sentences in a language sample
Target forms counted in a language sample
By the annual IEP review date, during a 50-utterance conversational language sample about a familiar topic, recorded and transcribed by the SLP, the student will produce complex sentences that contain a main clause and at least one subordinate clause (such as a because, when, if, or who clause) independently at least 10 times per 50-utterance language sample, in 3 of 4 consecutive biweekly samples, as measured by frequency recording collected every two weeks.
Middle school grammar, syntax & morphology goals account for multiple teachers, changing classes, and more independent work. They often pair the skill with a strategy or tool, and the data can be collected across settings by different staff or by the student.
Matching data sheets
Each goal above links to the blank sheet built for its measure. These are the sheets this set of goals uses:
- Accuracy trackerNumber correct out of number attempted, with percent accuracy and support level.Used by 11 goals here
- Frequency & rate trackerCounts a defined behavior during a fixed observation period. Calculates rate when time is recorded.Used by 2 goals here
- Opportunity trackerRecords each opportunity as independent, prompted, or not demonstrated.Used by 4 goals here
- Rubric trackerScores each rubric criterion and totals the score for each sample.Used by 1 goal here
Frequently asked questions
How are grammar, syntax & morphology goals measured across several middle school classes?
By defining the task and the observation period so any teacher can use the same sheet, or by work samples collected from more than one class. Student self-monitoring with a weekly check is common.
Should middle school goals include study skills?
When assessment shows that organization, planning, or test preparation limits the student's progress, yes. Those goals are measured with task-analysis checklists and percent of assignments completed.
When does transition planning start?
The IEP in effect when the student turns 16 must include postsecondary goals and transition services, and many states start at 14. Middle school goals can build the self-advocacy and independence those plans rely on.
IEP Atlas Pro
Turn these goals into progress reports
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Count trials, prompts, and minutes live in the session; the graph and trend line draw themselves; progress reports are drafted from your data.