Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards:
L.6.2a
Use punctuation (commas, parentheses, dashes) to set off nonrestrictive/parenthetical elements.
North Carolina - Standard Course of Study:
L.6.2.a
Use punctuation to set off nonrestrictive/parenthetical elements
New York State Next Generation Learning Standards:
Use punctuation (commas, parentheses, dashes, hyphens) to clarify and enhance writing.
Wisconsin Academic Standards:
L.6.6.a
commas, parentheses, and dashes, and
Pennsylvania Core Standards:
CC.1.4.6.F
Demonstrate a grade-appropriate command of the conventions of standard English grammar, usage, capitalization, punctuation,and spelling.
E06.D.1.1.1 - Ensure that pronouns are in the proper case (i.e., subjective, objective, and possessive).
E06.D.1.1.2 - Use intensive pronouns (e.g., myself, ourselves).
E06.D.1.1.3 - Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in pronoun number and person.*
E06.D.1.1.4 - Recognize and correct vague pronouns (i.e., ones with unclear or ambiguous antecedents).*
E06.D.1.1.5 - Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in verb tense.*
E06.D.1.1.6 - Produce complete sentences, recognizing and correcting inappropriate fragments and run-on sentences.*
E06.D.1.1.7 - Correctly use frequently confused words (e.g., to, too, two; there, their, they’re).*
E06.D.1.1.8 - Ensure subject-verb and pronoun-antecedent agreement.*
E06.D.1.2.1 - Use punctuation (e.g., commas, parentheses, dashes) to set off nonrestrictive/parenthetical elements.*
E06.D.1.2.2 - Spell correctly.
E06.D.1.2.3 - Use punctuation to separate items in a series.*
Pennsylvania Core Standards:
CC.1.4.6.L
Demonstrate a grade-appropriate command of the conventions of standard English grammar, usage, capitalization, punctuation,and spelling.
E06.D.1.1.1 - Ensure that pronouns are in the proper case (i.e., subjective, objective, and possessive).
E06.D.1.1.2 - Use intensive pronouns (e.g., myself, ourselves).
E06.D.1.1.3 - Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in pronoun number and person.*
E06.D.1.1.4 - Recognize and correct vague pronouns (i.e., ones with unclear or ambiguous antecedents).*
E06.D.1.1.5 - Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in verb tense.*
E06.D.1.1.6 - Produce complete sentences, recognizing and correcting inappropriate fragments and run-on sentences.*
E06.D.1.1.7 - Correctly use frequently confused words (e.g., to, too, two; there, their, they’re).*
E06.D.1.1.8 - Ensure subject-verb and pronoun-antecedent agreement.*
E06.D.1.2.1 - Use punctuation (e.g., commas, parentheses, dashes) to set off nonrestrictive/parenthetical elements.*
E06.D.1.2.2 - Spell correctly.
E06.D.1.2.3 - Use punctuation to separate items in a series.*
Pennsylvania Core Standards:
CC.1.4.6.R
Demonstrate a grade-appropriate command of the conventions of standard English grammar, usage, capitalization, punctuation,and spelling.
E06.D.1.1.1 - Ensure that pronouns are in the proper case (i.e., subjective, objective, and possessive).
E06.D.1.1.2 - Use intensive pronouns (e.g., myself, ourselves).
E06.D.1.1.3 - Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in pronoun number and person.*
E06.D.1.1.4 - Recognize and correct vague pronouns (i.e., ones with unclear or ambiguous antecedents).*
E06.D.1.1.5 - Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in verb tense.*
E06.D.1.1.6 - Produce complete sentences, recognizing and correcting inappropriate fragments and run-on sentences.*
E06.D.1.1.7 - Correctly use frequently confused words (e.g., to, too, two; there, their, they’re).*
E06.D.1.1.8 - Ensure subject-verb and pronoun-antecedent agreement.*
E06.D.1.2.1 - Use punctuation (e.g., commas, parentheses, dashes) to set off nonrestrictive/parenthetical elements.*
E06.D.1.2.2 - Spell correctly.
E06.D.1.2.3 - Use punctuation to separate items in a series.*
6th Grade Writing - Punctuation Lesson
Punctuation
Punctuation is the practice of using certain characters in writing to separate words and make the meaning clear. There are different rules for proper punctuation in the English language.
Quotes
Quotation marks are used around dialogue, or the exact words a speaker says in a text. A question mark is used before the last set of quotation marks when the speaker is asking a question.
Comma
When a sentence uses a direct address, the name of the person being addressed, or talked to, is used with a comma.
A comma always comes before the coordinating conjunction in a compound sentence.
Apostrophe
Apostrophes are used to create a possessive, or show ownership.
In a contraction, and apostrophe takes the place of one or more letters in the original words.
Colon
A colon is used to introduce a list. The colon should always come before the first item in the list and should not be used after a verb or preposition.
Semi-colon
A semi-colon is used to join two complete thoughts. A semicolon suggests a stronger pause in a sentence than a comma. It may also be used instead of a period.
Abbreviation
Abbreviations are followed by periods.
Nonrestrictive/Parenthetical elements
A non-restrictive or parenthetical element is a part of a sentence that can be removed without changing the sentence’s meaning. The sentence would still make sense without the parenthetical element.
Commas, parentheses, or dashes are used at the beginning and end of the parenthetical element.
Examples:
Nirvana Meditation center, which is on Peace street, is closed on Sundays.
It is not necessary (as I’ve said many times) to bring a gift to this party.
Go tell Aunt Rhody—unless you have other things to do—that you will bring the pie.