Page 16 - Enjoying Words (EW) Comprehension & literature

SEMI-COLONS AND COLONS

Truth to Teach (Source)

 Review Y5 teaching on semi-colons.

 Semi-colons give a break in a sentence, longer than a comma but shorter than a colon.

 Semi-colons are used in complex lists, eg It eats slugs and snails; flies and bugs.

 Semi-colons are used to link sentences instead of conjunctions.

 Semi-colons may precede conjunctions.

 Colons are used to introduce lists, quotations and explanations.

 Colons are often used in writing Bible verses, e.g. John 6:9

Way to Work (Means)

1. Review the previous lessons.

2. Let the children take a punctuation sign out of a box, then let them think of a sentence which would
require it.

One child will have received a colon and may need help with a sentence.

3. Ask the children where they have seen colons used. Explain that they are used to introduce lists,
quotations and explanations.

Give lots of examples.

4. Let the children find the following verses to show colons: - Jonah 1:1, Jonah 2:1, Jonah 3:1.

5. Ask the children to read Jonah 2:1-6 to count the semi-colons and note where they are used. Point
out that we often use colons when writing Bible verses.

6. Review the use of semi-colons, as above.

7. Let the children attempt the worksheet to consolidate their learning.
(Possible punctuation signs are: - full stop, question mark, exclamation mark, comma, speech
marks, apostrophe, dash, hyphen, semi-colon, colon)

Learning for Life (Fulfilment)

1. The children will have been introduced to colons and should begin to distinguish them from semi-
colons in their writing.

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