Preparation for the STAAR Test: Revising and Editing But I Stink at Grammar!

Grammar Review Commas Capitalizations Run-ons and Fragments Apostrophes

Commas Use commas: - to separate dates, cities and states, person addressed in dialogue, introductory words - before a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS) - series of words or phrases - a direct quotation - introductory phrase in a sentence - appositives, nonessential phrases

“Gotta keep ‘em separated!” The president lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington D. C. May 3, 1992, is her birth date. Whatever, I don’t really care!

FANBOYS (For, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) You need to take out the garbage before you go to your friend’s house, and Sam, don’t forget to take the cans to the street since tomorrow is Wednesday, trash day!

“They keep going and going…” Her chores at home include washing the dishes, making the bed, and walking the dog. Her favorite colors are blue, orange, and yellow. He hates veggies, dogs, and sports.

“What he said!” Bob asked, “Is Sue home?” The girl shouted across the room, “Does anyone have a pencil I can borrow?” The bus driver whispered under his breath, “Only 14 more stops.”

“I’m proud to introduce…” Because she is my friend, I asked her first. With no expectations and only hope in her heart, she gave her valentine to him. With hands in pockets, he walked away.

“That was not necessary” My friend, Sally Sue, is always interrupting. The little boy, Georgie Porgie, is bad. The teacher, with lots of papers to grade, is teaching the class.

Capitalization Proper Names Titles (first, middle important words, last) First word of sentence Direction as a location/region Days of the week Months of the year Planets I

ALL CAPS The young lady, Sandra, and her boyfriend, Brett, set out on a trip to the South to visit her favorite author’s home town and the same location as her favorite story New Orleans.

Run-ons and Fragments Run-on sentence Fragment a sentence that continues without any defined breaks using a comma and conjunction or ending punctuation Fragment a part of a sentence lacking either the subject or a verb

Apostrophes To show possession Contractions To add ‘s’ to numbers or letters