D.L.P. – Week Nine GRADE SEVEN

Day One – Skills Punctuation – Comma – Dates When writing a date, a comma must separate the day from the year. (May 5, 2015) When an entire date is included within a sentence, the date will be followed by a comma if the sentence continues after it. (He graduated on May 5, 2015, on a warm day.) Punctuation – Comma – Address Parts of an address are separated by commas. The city and state or country always has a comma between them. (Belle Vernon, PA) When writing an entire address in a sentence, separate the lines of the address with a comma. The lines of an address are the street address and the city, state, and zip code. (I live at 2 Maple Street, Belle Vernon, PA 15012) If both a city and state/country are in the sentence, they must also be separated from the rest of the sentence with a comma. (Belle Vernon, PA, is where I live.) Capitalization – Proper Nouns - Places Names of specific places must be capitalized since they are proper nouns. These could include the names of buildings and monuments. They could also include towns, cities, states, and countries.

Charles Dickens was born on February in Portsmouth England. DAY ONE – SENTENCE ONE Charles Dickens was born on February 7, 1812, in Portsmouth, England.

He spent most of his childhood in london and kent, the settings for many of his books. DAY ONE – SENTENCE TWO He spent most of his childhood in London and Kent, the settings for many of his books.

Day Two – Skills Numbers – As Words or Numerals If the number is less than one hundred, it must be written as a word unless it is a score, weight, height, time, or date. If the number is over one hundred, be consistent in how it is written. Do not mix and match some words with some numerical aspects. (2 thousand is incorrect. It should be two thousand. 5 dollars is incorrect. It should be five dollars.) Punctuation – Comma – Compound Sentence When two independent clauses are combined with a conjunction to form a compound sentence, a comma must be placed before the conjunction. Sentence Combining – Using Subordination Two ideas can be combined into one sentence by making one sentence into a subordinate (dependent) clause. If the dependent clause begins the sentence, a comma must follow it.

He started school when he was 9 but his education ended early. DAY TWO – SENTENCE ONE He started school when he was nine, but his education ended early.

Charles had to work in a sweatshop. He did not have a chance to return to school. DAY TWO – SENTENCE TWO Because Charles had to work in a sweatshop, he did not have a chance to return to school.

Day Three– Skills Voice – Active vs. Passive Active voice means that the subject is in the tradition subject spot as the doer of the action. In a passive voice construction, the subject is either in a prepositional phrase at the end of the sentence or not stated at all. (Active – I like cats. Passive (The cats were liked.) Note that in the passive construction, there is typically a linking verb. Writers should write in active voice. Punctuation – Comma – Appositives If an appositive is a single word, it is the writer’s choice to place comas around it or not, but a multiple word appositive must be set off from the sentence with commas.

The first writings were published by Dickens in DAY THREE – SENTENCE ONE Dickens published his first writings in 1833.

His pen name was Boz a name he liked very much. DAY THREE – SENTENCE TWO His pen name was Boz, a name he liked very much.

Day Four– Skills Punctuation – Titles When referring to a title when writing, it must be punctuated properly. Shorter works are placed in quotations. Shorter works include poems, short stories, songs, a chapter in a longer book, or a newspaper or magazine article. Longer works include books, names of magazines or newspapers, and movies. Punctuation – Comma – Appositives If an appositive is a single word, it is the writer’s choice to place comas around it or not, but a multiple word appositive must be set off from the sentence with commas. Verb Usage – To speak The verb speak is an action verb that is irregular. In the past it becomes spoke and the past participle is spoken.

The Pickwick Papers his first novel made Dickens famous. DAY FOUR – SENTENCE ONE The Pickwick Papers, his first novel, made Dickens famous.

Dickens speaked all over the world on lecture tours. DAY FOUR – SENTENCE TWO Dickens spoke all over the world on lecture tours.

Day Five– Skills Punctuation – Apostrophes in Possession An apostrophe is used to show possession or ownership. If the word showing ownership is singular, then the apostrophe is placed before the s. (boy’s) If the word is plural and ends in an s, then the apostrophe is placed after the s. (groups’) However, if the plural word does not end in an s, then the apostrophe is placed before the s. (children’s) Joint possession means more than one person owns something. If one thing is owned by more than one person, the apostrophe and s appear only on the final person in the group. (Bob and Mark’s car) Punctuation – Colon –Items in a Series When a list of items is included in a sentence so that the reader is warned that a list is coming, a colon must precede the list. However, if the reader gets no forewarning that a list will be coming, no colon is needed. Run-on Sentences Run-on sentences occur when two complete thoughts run together without proper connection or punctuation. Run-ons can be corrected in one of three ways. First, simply separate the two sentences with proper end punctuation. However, if the two sentences can be connected by meaning, connect them with a comma and the proper conjunction. Finally, the two sentences can have a semicolon placed between them if the clauses relate closely in meaning. Note that the sentence following the semicolon would not begin with a capital unless that word is a proper noun or the pronoun I.

Dicken’s most famous books are as follows Nicholas Nickelby, Bleak House, Great Expectations, and A Tale of Two Cities. DAY FIVE – SENTENCE ONE Dickens’s most famous books are as follows: Nicholas Nickelby, Bleak House, Great Expectations, and A Tale of Two Cities.

I like A Tale of Two Cities the best my sister likes Bleak House. DAY FIVE – SENTENCE TWO I like A Tale of Two Cities the best; my sister likes Bleak House.