Using commas II

Using commas II

Pencil and paper
Overview
Using this Resource
Connecting to the Curriculum
Marking Student Responses
Working with Students
Further Resources
This task is about adding commas to sentences to show where extra information has been added.

The boy, who was very tall, was a great basketball player.

In the sentence above, the words in between the two commas give us extra information. These words could be left out and the sentence would still make sense.

In the story below there are some sentences that include extra information.

Your task is to put commas ( , ) around the extra information. The first pair of commas has been put in for you.

mrs-macginty

Mrs MacGinty, who had lived in her house for sixty-five years, was having a garage sale. She wanted to clear out some of the clutter from her house. The sale which was being held on Saturday had been advertised in the local paper. There was also a sign on Mrs MacGinty's front gate.

On Friday night Mrs MacGinty went down to the garage to check that everything was in order for the next day. The blue and white dinner set was going for a bargain she thought at fifty-five dollars. The grandfather clock although running a little slow did still go. The vase which she had been given as a twenty-first birthday present had a small crack but you'd hardly notice it. When Mrs MacGinty looked at herself in the oak-framed mirror which used to hang in the spare bedroom she wondered how the years had flown by so quickly.

Mrs MacGinty who by this time was beginning to feel a little shaky sat down. She looked slowly around at all her things. She thought and she thought. Suddenly she got to her feet. A gleam came into her eyes. Mrs MacGinty marched, as well as she could, out to the front gate and took down the garage sale sign.

"After all," Mrs MacGinty said to herself, "you can't sell your memories."

Task administration: 
This task can be completed with pencil and paper.
Copyright: 
Image: Victor L, Pexels
Levels:
3, 4
Curriculum info: 
English, Creating meaning, Writing
Key Competencies: 
Using language, symbols, and texts
Keywords: 
punctuation, commas
Description of task: 
Students add commas to enclose words or phrases within sentences to show where extra information has been added.
Curriculum Links: 
This resource can be used to help to identify students’ ability to create texts to meet the writing demands of the New Zealand Curriculum.
 

Links to the Literacy Learning Progressions for Writing:
This resource helps to identify students’ ability to:
  • use basic punctuation correctly, attempting some complex punctuation
  • demonstrate knowledge of how language works
as described in the Literacy Learning Progressions for Writing at: The Literacy Learning Progressions - Literacy Progressions (tki.org.nz)
Learning Progression Frameworks
This resource can provide evidence of learning associated with
Writing meaningful text: encoding, set 5
Writing meaningful text: encoding, set 6
Writing meaningful text: text features, set 4
Writing meaningful text: text features, set 5
within the Writing Learning Progressions Frameworks.
Read more about the Learning Progressions Frameworks.
Answers/responses: 
  Y8 (06/2003)
The sale, which was being held on Saturday, had been advertised in the local paper. difficult (both commas correctly added*)

moderate (one comma correctly added*)
The blue and white dinner set was going for a bargain, she thought, at fifty-five dollars. very difficult (both commas correctly added*)

difficult (one comma correctly added*)
The grandfather clock, although running a little slow, did still go. difficult (both commas correctly added*)

moderate (one comma correctly added*)
The vase, which she had been given as a twenty-first birthday present, had a small crack but you'd hardly notice it. very difficult

moderate
When Mrs MacGinty looked at herself in the oak-framed mirror, which used to hang in the spare bedroom, she wondered how the years had flown by so quickly. difficult

moderate
Mrs MacGinty, who by this time was beginning to feel a little shaky, sat down. difficult

moderate
Mrs MacGinty marched, as well as she could, out to the front gate and took down the garage sale sign. difficult

difficult

*NOTE: No 'extra' (incorrect) commas added.

Diagnostic and formative information: 
Analysis of Correct Responses

  • 1% of students has all 7 pairs correct.
  • 7% of students made 1 or 2 errors.
  • 5% of students made 3 or 4 errors.
  • 6% of students made 5 or 6 errors.
  • 9% of students made 7 or 8 errors.
  • 15% of students made 9 or 10 errors.
  • 16% of students made 11 or 12 errors.
  • 40% of students had none correct.