50 © Pearson Education Limited 2010 Section B Writing 51

• Cards: red, amber and green (optional).• Collection of newspapers and magazines (either full copies

or with stories cut out).• Scissors, sugar paper, glue and marker pens.

Assessment objectives• Use a range of sentence structures for clarity, purpose and

e� ect, with accurate punctuation and spelling. NB: This lesson presumes that students are revisiting inverted commas for speech and text titles. It will revise and consolidate these skills.

Learning objectives• Understand how to use colons and semi-colons.• Understand how to use inverted commas.

Resources required• Student Book pages 102–105• Worksheets 12.5, 12.6 (answers to Worksheet 12.5), 12.7• PowerPoint 12.3

12c Colons, semi-colons and inverted commas

Use accurate punctuation

Starter activity

• Display the learning objectives for the lesson. • Begin the lesson by asking for feedback on students’

confi dence levels on the use of colons and semi-colons, using red, amber and green cards to refl ect

1

Whole class/independent work

• Read as a class the text on colons and semi-colons on page 102 of the Student Book.

• Refer students to Activity 1 in the Student Book. Ask students to complete this activity independently, writing out the two sentences and deciding whether to use a colon or semi-colon where numbered.

• Take feedback and ask for volunteers to complete this activity at the front of the class on the IWB, explaining the reasons behind their choices.

• Distribute Worksheet 12.5 and display it on the IWB. Read the text as a whole class, asking students to notice the use of punctuation as you do so.

• Model the identifi cation of colons, semi-colons and inverted commas in the fi rst part of the text. Comment on the uses of each feature using the key below:1 Colon to introduce a list2 Colon to introduce quoted direct speech3 Semi-colon to separate two closely linked sentences4 Semi-colon to separate the items in a list that have been introduced with a colon

and are sentences in themselves5 Inverted commas around direct speech6 Inverted commas around book, fi lm, album, etc., titles

• Give students some time to mark up the second half of the text and then ask for student contributions. Display Worksheet 12.6, which has the answers to Worksheet 12.5.

• (Optional) If your students need reminding about using inverted commas around speech and book, fi lm, story or play titles, you may wish to run through Activity 2 (page 103) at the front of the class, asking for student feedback. If the class are confi dent with this, you may want to miss out this activity.

2

My learning

This lesson will help you to: understand how to use colons

and semi-colons understand how to use

inverted commas.

Colons, semi-colons and inverted commas

ColonsThe colon is used:

to introduce a list. For example:

If you go camping you will need: a tent, a sleeping bag, a torch and warm clothes.

to introduce quoted direct speech. For example:

A lady on the bus shouted after me: ‘You have forgotten your bag!’

You should be very confi dent about using colons if you have read much of this book. There are hundreds of them because there are lots of lists. Most of these lists, though, are in bullet point form. They could have been written in continuous prose instead, in which case the colon would have introduced the list and then the items would have been separated out by commas except for the last two which would have been linked by ‘and’.

Semi-colonsThe semi-colon is used in two cases:

where two full sentences are very closely linked together. For example:

I love eating spaghetti bolognaise; it is my favourite meal.

where a colon has introduced a list and the items in the list are grammatically full sentences. When this is the case these items in the list are separated by semi-colons rather than commas. For example:

I have lots to do in town: I need to buy a dress; I have to meet my friend; I must post a letter.

102

Here are two sentences that need colons and semi-colons. Decide whether a colon or a semi-colon should go in each place indicated by a number.

1 There were many sides to William Shakespeare (1) actor, playwright, husband, father and property owner.

2 There were many sides to William Shakespeare (1) he was an actor (2) he wrote plays (3) he was a husband and father and he was a property owner.

Activity 1

M12_LANG_SB_AQA_8143_U12.indd 102 1/12/09 09:46:00

Worksheet 12.6

Worksheet 12.5

‘not confi dent at all’, ‘some knowledge’ and ‘very confi dent’. If you do not have these resources you might like to get an indication by asking for a show of hands. For a short video that introduces colons and semi-colons, go to: http://www.videojug.com/fi lm/how-to-use-colons-and-semi-colons.

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Section B Writing 51

additional support • Consider constructing a dictogloss which uses all the punctuation marks in the last three lessons, and pair L1 English and EAL students.

3 Independent/group work• As in the previous lessons, in steps 3, 4 and 5 ensure

that student pairs or groups include both L1 English and EAL students.

• If students are working independently, ask them to rehearse in their heads the sentences they want to use and to keep repeating the sentences as they write them down. This will help ensure that they write what they intended to write.

Further work

• Using the information they have read in Worksheet 12.5 (together with reasonable artistic licence!), ask students to write a paragraph of text to advertise next year’s Children’s Food Festival to parents and children. Their language should contain informative and persuasive features but the main focus should be on the correct use of colons, semi-colons and inverted commas (together with any other punctuation that has been taught in previous lessons).

• Alternatively, or additionally, students can go on to complete the Assessment practice activity (page 104) as extension work, homework or as a lesson in itself.

• Once they have fi nished the activity, students can complete Worksheet 12.7. This encourages them to use the exemplar answers on the Grade Studio page (page 105) to help self-assess their answer and understand what they need to do to move up the grades.

• The Grade Studio interactive can also be used on the IWB to aid whole class understanding of the grade criteria and how to move up the grades.

5

Plenary

• Ask students for examples of sentences using colons and semi-colons that they have found in their reading.

• Ask students for feedback on their confi dence levels of using colons, semi-colons and inverted commas using the red, amber and green cards, to assess their progress in learning since the beginning of the lesson.

• Display students’ work for others to look at as they exit the classroom.

4

Group work

• Display PowerPoint 12.3, which provides the instructions for the next task.

• Ask students to select a newspaper and work in pairs to fi nd a story they are interested in and that is appropriate for classroom use. Alternatively use one of the articles from the Reading section of the Student Book.

• Students should skim and scan the story and identify a variety of punctuation marks.

• Ask the students to stick their chosen story on sugar paper and annotate around it to mark the uses of punctuation that they have studied in class, including colons, semi-colons and inverted commas.

3

Suggested answersActivity 1There were many sides to William Shakespeare: actor, playwright, husband, father and property owner.

There were many sides to William Shakespeare: he was an actor; he wrote plays; he was a husband and father and he was a property owner.

Activity 2‘What are you reading?’ Mark asked.‘I’m reading that book by Lance Armstrong about winning the Tour de France.’‘What’s it called?’‘It’s called ‘Every Second Counts’, I think.’

GradeStudioHere are two student answers to the activity on page 104.Persuade the reader that it would be a good thing if everyone became a vegetarian.Read the answers together with the examiner comments. Then check what you have learnt and try putting it into practice.

grade answerB

Examiner commentThere is only one punctuation error here, so the answer can be considered to be generally accurate. This apart, the punctuation is used effectively. The punctuation in this answer falls in the B band.

Student BApostrophe missing

Would you like to be fa� ened up for slaughter before being butchered? Of course you wouldn’t. Still less would you like to be fa� ened up and eaten? So why do so many people think animals can be treated like this? Is it because they’re hypocrites? Is it because they think animals don’t ma� er as much as people? Theres something wrong with people who think an animal doesn’t have the right to a decent life.

grade answerD

Examiner commentThere is a range of punctuation here used correctly: commas in lists, an exclamation mark and three full stops. There are two occasions, though when a comma is used instead of a full stop. If there were only one, then the punctuation could be said to be ‘generally accurate’, but two suggests that the student is uncertain about when to use a full stop. Two question marks are also missing. The answer falls in the D range.

Student AComma used instead of full stop

Comma used instead of full stop

Question mark missingQuestion mark missing

People would be much healthier if they were vegetarians, they wouldn’t have so much heart-a� ack inducing cholesterol and they would smell be� er. Animals would be be� er off too, they could live happy and contented lives without having to worry about being eaten. How would you like to be bred to be eaten. How would you like to be fa� ened up for slaughter. You wouldn’t! None of us would be worse off if we did without beef, pork, lamb and chicken.

What have I learnt?

Discuss or jot down what you now know about:• using a range of punctuation• using punctuation marks accurately• what the examiners are looking for.

Putting it into practice

• You can practise this skill with anything you write.• You can notice how punctuation is used in a wide range of texts.• You can practise checking your own punctuation in everything you write.

PunctuationTo move up the grades, you need to be able to:• read what you have just written

very carefully• check all your full stops• fi nd and correct any errors• make sure you haven’t been

inconsistent with your spelling.

105

1 Starter• Colons and semi-colons are very diffi cult concepts for

EAL learners as there may be nothing like them in their fi rst language. Talk partners may be a useful strategy – both for EAL students paired with � uent English speakers, to check punctuation terms are understood, and for EAL students with same fi rst language, to discuss how punctuation is used in their language.

2 Whole class/independent work• Joint construction: the ‘optional’ stage in step 2 (Activity

2) would be benefi cial for EAL students as a reminder.

PowerPoint 12.3

Worksheet 12.7

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