Tonight, though, there seems to be a delay; I pick up from the chatter that something special is going on. -Patricia McCormick, Cut Dad did everything he could to be a good father. He showed interest in everything my brother and I did. We joined the Boy Scouts; Dad joined the Boy Scouts. We became junior volunteer fireman; Dad became a junior volunteer fireman. -David Rice, Give the Pig a Chance and Other Stories Ships came and went; men and women did their chores, talked, and sought relief from the heat and insects; the markets and shops hummed with activity; children played; and the city, state, and federal governments went about their business. -Jim Murphy, An American Plague In your YELLOW punctuation packet find semicolons and write down what you think the purpose is of a semicolon for each text.

Semicolon ; Purposes: 1. Acts like a softer period between sentences with linked ideas. 2. Semicolons separate items in lists with items that contain commas.

With a partner figure out how these two sentences could be combined using a semicolon. He was built more like a point guard. He just didn’t have point-guard skills. Some of the names Danny knew just from following college hoops. Some he didn’t, because not all of them were from big schools.

A great spot-up shooter. He couldn’t defend very well, move his feet fast enough to cover fast guys. He was built more like a point guard; he just didn’t have point- guard skills. The older guys were separated strictly by age today, thirteens with thirteens, fourteens with fourteens, like that, and went from a shooting clinic to a passing clinic to a defensive clinic, even to one for full-court presses, both zone and man-to-man, with a different college coach handling each station. Some of the names Danny knew just from the following college hoops; some he didn’t, because not all of them were from big schools. -Mike Lupica, Summer Ball

With your partner figure out where the semicolons could go. Big eyes and full lips like a kid’s, smooth, clear skin, symmetrical features and a thousand other little clues. There was a certain kind of beauty, a prettiness that everyone could see. Big eyes and full lips like a kid’s; smooth, clear skin; symmetrical features; and a thousand other little clues. -Scott Westerfeld, Uglies

Freewrite Use one smiley-face technique and a semicolon. Write as much as you can! Idea Starter: At first the noise was very faint and seemed far away. It was an odd noise, one that the boys didn’t recognize. As it moved closer, they went out to see what it might be.