1. Punctuation Lesson Objective To revise the main types of punctuation Good morning children! Isn’t punctuation fun? What are you doing here? If Maths get a Dinosaur in their assemblies then English should have one too… But Mr Fraser was busy and no one else wanted to demean themselves by dressing up. ARRRGGGHHH!

2. Good morning children! Isn’t punctuation fun? But no one wanted to demean themselves by dressing up. If Maths get a Dinosaur in their assemblies then English should have one too… Metaphorsaurus says, “look how many different forms of punctuation I have used in one conversation! And now I’ve used speech marks and an apostrophe as well. WOW!

3. Metaphorsaurus, why don’t you tell all the lovely boys and girls why punctuation is important? Of course I will you tiny and insignificant creature. In your GCSE exam during both paper one and paper two, you have to answer writing questions. For both of these up to 9 points are given for punctuation and spelling. 9 points could make a HUGE difference to your grade.

4. The Comma Slow children crossing. Look at that huge hot dog! Go get him doctors! After we left Grandma Dad and I went to the cinema. James walked on his head a little higher than usual. What is this thing called honey? The student said the teacher is crazy., The comma can be used to great effect; to create rhythm and add detail. By changing the position or adding something so simple a sentence can completely change meaning. These sentences can have multiple meanings by the addition of commas / a comma. On your sheet try to make different meanings by inserting commas into the 7 sentences.

5. Here is my friend Thesaurus with the answers! Say hi to all the boys and girls! ROOOOOAAAARRR! I love punctuation! Have some answers! Can we stop now? I don’t like dinosaurs.

6. The Comma Slow children crossing. Slow, children crossing. Look at that huge hot dog! Look at that huge, hot dog! Go get him, doctors! Go, get him doctors! After we left Grandma, Dad and I went to the cinema. After we left, Grandma, Dad and I went to the cinema. James walked on, his head a little higher than usual. James walked on his head, a little higher than usual. What is this thing called honey? What is this thing called, honey? The student said the teacher is crazy. The student, said the teacher, is crazy., The comma can be used to great effect; to create rhythm and add detail. By changing the position or adding something so simple a sentence can completely change meaning. ANSWERS

7. Let’s eat Grandma. Let’s eat, Grandma Remember Punctuation saves lives!

8. Speech Direct speech means to use talking in stories. The punctuation needed can be very complicated. “Speech marks” always need to go at the start and end of what is being said (including punctuation). ‘ Not him again…’

9. Remember when a new person speaks a new paragraph starts. On your sheet mark each new paragraph with a // “If Jack was chief we’d have all hunting and no fire. We’d be here til we died.” “Who’s that sitting there?” “Me, Simon” “Fat lot of good we all are” Said Ralph. “Three blind mice. I’ll give up” “If you give up” said Piggy in an appalled whisper, “What ud happen to me?” “Nothing” “I had the conch”, said Piggy simply. “I had a right to speak”. Simon stirred in the dark. “Go on being chief”.

10. “If Jack was chief we’d have all hunting and no fire. We’d be here ‘til we died.” “Who’s that sitting there?” “Me, Simon.” “Fat lot of good we all are” Said Ralph. “Three blind mice. I’ll give up” “If you give up” said Piggy in an appalled whisper, “What ud happen to me?” “Nothing.” “I had the conch”, said Piggy simply. “I had a right to speak”. Simon stirred in the dark. “Go on being chief”.

11. Paragraphing Paragraphing is a basic skill and something you must do in order to get even the minimum “extra” marks. To get top marks you must paragraph consistently and for effect. You can’t get above a D if you don’t use paragraphs

12. Ti PTop Time Person Topic Place When to start a new one…

13. Topic Sentences Rats make excellent pets and can be easily and cheaply bought. If you wish to keep rats as pets, you should go to a good pet shp or contact an official breeder who can give you advice. It is important to choose your pet rats carefully. Check that they are healthy. You will know because they will be alert and their eyes, nose and ears will be clean. This is from writing to inform but topic sentences can be used in any piece of writing. Why would you use topic sentences?

14. Cause and effect connectives A well chosen connective can really make the difference in your answers both in terms of connecting ideas and showing linked knowledge but also in helping your work flow and getting those extra few precious syntax points. Notice how the next piece is dramatically improved by the simple addition of 4 connectives. The examiners tell us that in order to get even just 6 marks out of the 9 you MUST have “constructions linked to discourse markers.”

15. Shrek is a really good film. The voice for Shrek is done by Mike Myers. The voice for the donkey is Eddie Murphy, the comedian. The donkey is funny. It has a princess, a dragon and a handsome prince. It has everything you want. Shrek, the main character, is upset. He is about to be thrown out of his house. The princess gets captured. He tries to rescue the princess. It is great to watch, the effects are good. Giving reasons

16. Shrek is a really good film. The voice for Shrek is by Mike Myers. The voice for the donkey is Eddie Murphy, the comedian. As a result, the donkey is funny. It has a princess, a dragon and a handsome prince. In fact it has everything you want. Shrek, the main character, is upset because he is about to be thrown out of his house. The princess gets captured. Consequently he tries to rescue the princess. It is great to watch, the effects are good. Please use cause and effect connectives…

17. You have to use a variety of sentences in the writing sections of both exams to gain a C grade!

18. Different Sentence Types Simple – an independent clause that makes sense on its own. It contains a subject and main verb. The cat (subject) sat (verb) on the mat. Compound – this consists of two main clauses joined together by a semi-colon or conjunction. The cat sat on the mat and drank the milk. Complex – This consists of an independent clause and one or more subordinate clauses (a subordinate clause does not make sense on its own.) Sitting on the mat, the cat drank the milk. Or The cat, which was sitting on the mat, drank the milk. Fragments – this is not really a sentence at all; fragments are often used for dramatic effect. The cat!

19. The colon (Part 1) The colon (:) is used to introduce a list. For lunch today I had: a cheese sandwich, a packet of crisps, a Fruit Shoot and an apple..

20. The colon (Part 2) The colon is also used to add further explanation to a point previously made. For example: Schools nowadays are much improved from previously: corporal punishment no longer exists, and teachers generally make an effort to involve and engage students in lessons.

21. The semi-colon Many people get confused about the use of the semi-colon… But it’s not hard! It is used in two main ways.

22. Using the semi-colon (Part 1) One way to use the semi-colon is to separate items in a list in which each item is fairly long and complicated.

23. The semi-colon explained (Part 1) In the sentence ‘For lunch today I had: a cheese sandwich, a packet of crisps, a Fruit Shoot and an apple.’ semi-colons are not needed between the items. They are short and uncomplicated, and only require separating with commas. However, in the sentence ‘I did lots of things at the weekend: I went to the cinema with my friends; I visited my gran for Sunday lunch; I did a huge pile of marking; I created a PowerPoint presentation.’ semi-colons are used to separate the items because they are each quite lengthy. This makes the sentence clearer.

24. Using the semi-colon (Part 2) Another way to use the semi-colon is to separate clauses in a sentence which have equal weight. Mavis was a student at the local school; she was a hard-working and pleasant girl.

25. The semi-colon explained (Part 3) Here’s that sentence again: Mavis was a Sixth Form student at the local school; she was a hard-working and pleasant girl. Notice that each of the clauses makes complete sense by itself. Each one could be expressed as a sentence: Mavis was a Sixth Form student at the local school. She was a hard-working and pleasant girl. To put it simply…

26. The semi-colon explained (Part 4) A semi-colon is an alternative to a full stop when you want to make two or more short sentences into one long one. Another example: ‘There had been no possibility of taking a walk that day. It had been raining steadily since dawn.’ becomes There had been no possibility of taking a walk that day; it had been raining steadily since dawn.

27. Apostrophes are ESSENTIAL. They show ownership… Mr Wedge’s facemask… No one looks this good without effort…

28. The apostrophe The apostrophe is another one that causes a lot of unnecessary problems… It has two main functions: To show possession and To show omission.

29. The apostrophe of possession: singular ‘ owner ’. The first use of the apostrophe is to show possession (when something belongs to someone). The apostrophe always goes after the last letter of the word describing the person to whom something belongs: The book of the boy becomes The boy’s book The nappy of the baby becomes The baby’s nappy The toys of the child becomes The child’s toys

30. The apostrophe of possession: plural ‘ owner ’ When the ‘owner’ in a sentence (the person or thing to whom something belongs) is plural AND ends in an s (boys, babies) there is NO ‘s’ after the apostrophe. For example: The books of the boys becomes The boys’ books The nappies of the babies becomes The babies’ nappies However, when the ‘owner’ in the sentence is plural but does not end in an s (children, sheep) there is an ‘s’ after the apostrophe. For example: The toys of the children becomes The children’s toys The fleeces of the sheep becomes The sheep’s fleeces

31. The apostrophe of omission The apostrophe is also used when letters are omitted (left out) from a word or words. The apostrophe always goes in the place where letters are missing. For example: have not becomes haven’t because the ‘o’ is omitted. Some more examples on the next slide…

32. Apostrophes of omission have nothaven’t shall notshan’t will notwon’t do notdon’t must notmustn’t cannotcan’t is notisn’t you areyou’re he ishe’s they arethey’re

33. Remember if you kill a letter… It comes back as a ghost… Replace “dead” letters with an apostrophe

34. Be careful with spelling, in order to get full marks for it you must, “achieve a high level of technical accuracy.” You must check through your answers as a basic mistake could cause a lot of confusion.

35. Wait! Why what have we forgotten? Only the best thing about English! Oh dear…