Why Punctuate?
Why Punctuate?
Grade Levels
8th Grade
Course, Subject
English Language Arts
Related Academic Standards
Description
All writers, at any level, use punctuation to communicate in the best possible way with their readers. Use this activity to illustrate why writers punctuate the way that they do.
Materials
Newspaper or Magazine
Notebook
Procedure: Look through a favorite magazine or newspaper, or even a favorite book. Find an article or passage that looks interesting. After reading through the article once, go back and look through for the colons, semicolons, and dashes. If a sentence with any of these punctuation marks is found, copy it down. All three of these punctuation marks may not be found in one article. If that is the case search through until two sentences are found for each punctuation mark.
After copying down a total of six sentences, study each one individually. Think about why the author or authors chose the form of punctuation that he or she did. Then write an explanation for each sentence stating why the author did what he/she did.
Extension
Teachers/Parents: This activity could easily be expanded by having students rewrite a small article in a different way from the author, explaining the changes that they made.
Essential Question
Why do writers use punctuation when writing? Why is it important to know not just the rules for the mechanics of writing, but the reasons behind them?
Duration
45 Minutes
Assessment
After completing this activity, be able to explain why authors would use semicolons, colons, and dashes within a piece of writing. Be able to discuss specific examples found in the activity completed.
