Making Punctuation Choices for Maximum Impact (Dashes and Brackets)

Did you remember all of these? These are the standard punctuation marks expected in year 6 written work.

How to Do It Often a comma indicates a sub-clause (the addition of non-essential information). For Example: The flower, which was yellow, grew at the bottom of the garden. The Section between the commas which was yellow Simply adds extra information to the simpler sentence The flower grew at the bottom of the garden.

How to Do It Dashes or brackets (parentheses) can be used instead of commas in these types of sentences. Simply replace each comma with a dash or a pair of brackets. For example: The flower, which was yellow, grew at the bottom of the garden. becomes The flower – which was yellow – grew at the bottom of the garden. or The flower (which was yellow) grew at the bottom of the garden.

How to Do It Now have a go – write a complex sentence of your own. Make it one with additional information added to the middle of the sentence. Swap sentences with a partner and see if you can create a more interesting one by replacing the commas with brackets or dashes.

Changing Order Dashes can again be used instead of commas in this type of sentence, to show the added information. For example: It was a very hard exam, the hardest I’ve ever taken. can change to It was a very hard exam - the hardest I’ve ever taken. Like dogs, cats can make brilliant household pets. Can change to Like dogs - cats can make brilliant household pets.

Now: You Try! Change the following piece of writing to show a range of brackets, dashes and commas. The day had been long, too long. The Sun, which glowed like an overripe orange, was already low in the sky. It was time to go home. I stepped out of the school gates, basking in the last few minutes of daylight.

Now: You Try! Share your version with a partner. Did they make the same choices as you? Which version is more effective? Why do you think this is? Keep in mind: Dashes work very well when indicating a pause in thought or to show the length of something. Brackets work best when simply adding a short piece of information to a sentence. Facts and statistics are particularly easy to see when placed within brackets rather than commas.