Year 8 Writing – Punctuation for Meaning 1
Practise pairing commas around extra information, starting a new paragraph for each speaker, and placing apostrophes in its/it's and plural possessives. 12 questions. 20 minutes.
Draft A: The first day at a new school
(1) On Monday morning, I walked through the gates of my new school feeling nervous. (2) The building which was bigger than my old school had a courtyard full of laughing students. (3) Near the entrance, a girl with a green backpack waved at me.
(4) 'Are you the new student?' she asked. (5) 'Yes, I'm Priya,' I replied.
(6) 'I'm Hana, and I'll show you around', she said.
(7) Dozens of girls were hanging up their bags. (8) The girl's lockers lined the east wall, and Hana showed me mine.
(9) Her friends, who were waiting beside the lockers, introduced themselves one by one.
(10) After the bell rang the class settled into their seats. (11) Mr Okafor reminded us that students, who forget their hats, must sit in the shade at lunch.
(12) Two boy's waved from the back row, and Hana's cousin waved too. (13) The classroom was cheerful, and it's walls were covered in student art. (14) The childrens paintings of local birds were my favourite. (15) I had packed: a pencil, a ruler and a water bottle. (16) By lunchtime, I had met six new people, I felt much calmer.
Which revision of Sentence 13 best fixes the error?
Circle 1 word in the sentence below.
Click the word with the misplaced apostrophe in Sentence 12.
Twoboy'swavedfromthebackrow,andHana'scousinwavedtoo.
Circle 1 word in the sentence below.
Sentence 10 needs a comma where its opening clause ends. Click the word the comma should follow.
Afterthebellrangtheclasssettledintotheirseats.
Which version of Sentence 6 places the punctuation before the tag correctly?
Which revision of Sentence 14 best fixes the error?
Which revision of Sentence 8 best fixes the error?
Which revision of Sentence 15 best improves the punctuation?
Which revision of Sentence 16 best fixes the error?
How should Sentence 2 be punctuated so the extra information about the building is set off correctly?
Where should a new paragraph begin so the dialogue in Paragraph 2 follows the layout rule for speakers?
Circle 2 words in the sentence below.
In Sentences 9 to 11, click the two words followed by a comma that wrongly sets off an essential clause.
Herfriends,whowerewaitingbesidethelockers,introducedthemselvesonebyone.Afterthebellrangtheclasssettledintotheirseats.MrOkaforremindedusthatstudents,whoforgettheirhats,mustsitintheshadeatlunch.
Which revision of Sentence 9 best improves the punctuation?