Commas are important!  A panda walks into a bar. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air.  "Why? Why are you behaving in this strange, un- panda-like fashion?" asks the confused waiter, as the panda walks towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.  "I'm a panda," he says, at the door. "Look it up."  The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation.  "Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves."

They can cause confusion…(show photos)  Eat here and get gas!  Eat here, and get gas!  Slow children playing  Slow, children playing

Commas When to Use Them!

Basic Jargon  Independent Clause: Can stand by itself. Has a subject and a verb.  Ask yourself: If I left out the other stuff, does the sentence still make sense?  Dependent/Subordinate Clause: Has a subject and a verb, but it can’t stand on its own  Phrases: Like a dependent clause, but it does not have both a subject and verb.

Examples – Identify Ind. And Dep. Clauses  While Alex was sleeping, the teacher was talking.  Christine went shopping because she needed new clothes.  Although I do not like ketchup, I like tomatoes.

A Little More Jargon  Compound Sentence: Made up of two independent clauses.  Ex: Grace likes photography and Monica likes photography.  Complex Sentence: One independent clause, one dependent clause  Ex: When it started raining, Arthur came in from recess.

Rule #1  Use a comma after a dependent clause or word  Ex: However, I don’t like it  Ex: While Alex was sleeping, the teacher was talking  However, don’t put a comma after the independent clause when a dependent clause follows  Ex: She was late for class because her alarm broke.

Rule #2  Use a comma after a phrase  Ex: To win the girl, Alex sent her roses.  Ex: Having finished the test early, Claire left the room.

Rule #3  Use a pair of commas in the middle of a sentence to set off clauses, phrases, and words that are dependent  Ask the question: If you left out the clause, phrase, or word does this sentence make sense?  This Tuesday, which happens to be my birthday, is the day I have a test  The food, on the other hand, is rather bland.

Adjective Commas  Coordinate adjectives: Equal status in describing noun  Non-coordinate adjectives: Unequal status in describing the noun  Ask: does the sentence make sense if the adjectives are written in reverse order?  Ex: Annie was a difficult, stubborn child. (coordinate – needs comma)  Ex: Shahriar wore a pink wool sweater (non- coordinate)

Story Time  Organize into groups of four. Everyone take out a piece of paper. Start writing a story beginning with the sentence “On a dark and stormy night…” Write for five minutes or so (try to get at least a paragraph) and in this time, use an independent clause and underline it. When I call time, pass the paper to the person to your left. They will pick up the story where you left off except this time they must include a complex sentence and underline the dependent clause. Write for five more minutes. You can make these as ridiculous as you want – get creativity points!  Pass the paper again to the person to the left. They will use a compound sentence.  Pass and use two adjectives separated by a comma