Dots and Dashes (Punctuation)

Lyrics

Chorus
What’s the deal with these dots and dashes?
Well, let’s slow it down like cold molasses.
You’ve got colons, parentheses, commas, apostrophes;
punctuation, it can help you a lot, you see?

Verse I
Whether you’re writing for school or just to correspond
you need punctuation, or else your sentence goes on, and on,
and on, and on, and on, and never stops…
so we can help you use punctuation in the right spots.

A period occurs at the end of a sentence,
and if you’re using initials, periods must be present.
For instance: “I went to the store.”
“I bought some milk, some O. J., and nothing more.”

A question mark goes right after—guess what—a question.
“Do you know what that means?” (Yeah, that’s the lesson.)
An exclamation point shows surprise, pain, or anger:
“Ow! I just pinched my finger!”

An apostrophe replaces the letters that get denied
in a contraction, that’s when you get two words combined.
Apostrophes also show possession: “That isn’t Mary’s pen.”
There are two apostrophes in that expression.

Chorus

Verse II
Think of a comma like you think of a pause,
when a conjunction connects an independent clause.
A comma’s like a breath expressed in written form:
“I like the sound of thunder, so I love thunderstorms.”

Let’s say you got a list, maybe 3 or more things.
You better use that comma and place it in between, like:
“My favorite colors are red, green, and blue.”
You know there’s gonna be drama if that comma is never used.

Use a comma in a sentence with a contrasting phrase:
“I’m awake, I’m just a little bit dazed.”
You can also use a comma to set off some dialogue, like,
“The princess said, ‘I liked you better as a frog!’”

Chorus

Verse III
If you’ve got conjunctive adverbs, like “therefore” or “however,”
or you’ve got two separate sentences you want to join together,
a semi-colon’s gonna become your mediator:
“I gotta get home; I’ll see you later.”

A colon is used in a few situations:
before a list, an example, or sometimes a quotation.
And speaking of quotations, don’t forget quotation marks,
and add a capital letter for any word at the start.

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Description

This punctuation song teaches English grammar and punctuation rules. The song helps students learn basic punctuation including the period, comma, semi-colon, question mark, colon, and exclamation point, and how to use them. The additional materials including online resources, lesson plans and worksheets assist writing instructors, teachers, students and parents in further learning and offer ideas for teaching. Using this song and the additional resources, students will master basic punctuation.

The song is suitable for elementary school, middle school, and high school students.

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Related Reading and Activities

Reading

Grammar and Writing
Punctuation Marks
This site gives a thorough look at punctuation, separated into sections for each punctuation mark. Lots of information and extensive examples. Good for all ages.
Grades 3-12

National Punctuation Day
National Punctuation Day
This clever and fun site celebrates punctuation, and provides resources for better understanding its usage. Particularly good for younger students.
Grades 2-6

Northern Illinois University English Department
Joys of Punctuation
This site goes over basic punctuation in great detail showing how the meaning of a sentence can change by changing punctuation.
Grades 4-10

Lesson Plans & Activities

Education World
Be the Editor!
This exercise asks students to edit pre-made writing using sentences relating to famous African-Americans. The mistakes often have to do with punctuation.
Grades 3-5, 6-8

International Reading Association
Every Punctuation Mark Matters: A Mini-Lesson on Semicolons
By using Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” students get an in-depth look at the semicolon. Note that while this lesson refers to the “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” any text which features rhetorically significant
use of semicolons can be effective for this mini-lesson. Grades 6-10

New York Times Learning Network
Pause for Punctuation
In this lesson, students play with several methods to help them identify, use, and correct the improper use of punctuation.
Grades 6-12

New York Times Learning Network
Punctuate This! (teacher instructions) (PDF)
Punctuate This! (student worksheet) (PDF)
This is an editing activity that focuses on punctuation.
Grades 6-12

ProTeacher
Capitalization and Punctuation
This teacher chat board has a variety of creative ideas for classroom activities involving proper punctuation. There are many clever and useful activities for young students on this site. A real gem!
Grades 1-6

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State Standards

State standards listed here are representative of school standards across the United States.

California

3rd Grade
1.5 Punctuation - Punctuate dates, city and state, and titles of books correctly.
1.6 Punctuation - Use commas in dates, locations, and addresses and items in a series.

4th Grade
1.4 Punctuation - Use parentheses, commas in direct quotations, and apostrophes in possessive case of nouns and in contractions.
1.5 Punctuation - Use underlining, quotation marks, or italics to identify titles of documents.

5th Grade
1.3 Punctuation - Use a colon to separate hours and minutes and to introduce a list; use quotation marks around exact words of a speaker and titles of poems, songs, short stories, and so forth.

6th Grade
1.3 Punctuation - Use colons after salutation in business letters, semicolons to connect independent clauses, and commas when linking two clauses with a conjunction in compound sentences.

7th Grade
1.5 Punctuation - Identify hyphens, dashes, brackets, and semicolons and use correctly.

8th Grade
1.5 Punctuation Capitalization - Use correct punctuation and capitalization.

9th-10th Grades
1.1 Grammar and Mechanics of Writing - Identify and correctly use clauses (e.g., main and subordinate), phrases (e.g., gerund, infinitive, and participial), and mechanics of punctuation (e.g., semicolons, colons, ellipses, hyphens).
1.4 Manuscript Form - Produce legible work that shows accurate spelling and correct use of the conventions of punctuation and capitalization.

Florida

3rd Grade
LA.3.3.4.3 - Edit for correct use of punctuation, including end punctuation, apostrophes, commas, colons, quotation marks in dialogue, and apostrophes in singular possessives.
LA.3.3.4.6 - Edit for correct use of end punctuation for compound, declarative, interrogative, and exclamatory sentences.

4th Grade
LA.4.3.4.3 - Edit for correct use of punctuation, including end punctuation, apostrophes, commas, colons, quotation marks in dialogue, and apostrophes in singular possessives.
LA.4.3.4.6 - Edit for correct use of end punctuation for declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory sentences.

5th Grade
LA.5.3.4.3 - Edit for correct use of punctuation, including commas in clauses, hyphens, and in cited sources, including quotations for exact words from sources.

6th Grade
LA.6.3.4.3 - Edit for correct use of punctuation in simple, compound, and complex sentences, including appositives and appositive phrases, and in cited sources, including quotations for exact words from sources.

7th Grade
LA.7.3.4.3 - Edit for correct use of punctuation of sentence structures, including participles and participial phrases, colon in introductory lists and to punctuate business letter salutations, semicolon in compound sentences, dash for additional emphasis or information, and apostrophes for plural possessives.

8th Grade
LA.8.3.4.3 - Edit for correct use of punctuation, including commas, colons, semicolons, quotation marks, and apostrophes.

9th Grade
LA.910.3.4.3 - Edit for correct use of punctuation, including commas, colons, semicolons, apostrophes, dashes, quotation marks, and underlining or italics.

Illinois

3rd Grade
3.A.1 - Construct complete sentences which demonstrate subject/verb agreement; appropriate capitalization and punctuation; correct spelling of appropriate, high-frequency words; and appropriate use of the eight parts of speech.

4th-6th Grades
3.A.2 - Write paragraphs that include a variety of sentence types; appropriate use of the eight parts of speech; and accurate spelling, capitalization and punctuation.
3.B.2d - Edit documents for clarity, subjectivity, pronoun-antecedent agreement, adverb and adjective agreement and verb tense; proofread for spelling, capitalization and punctuation; and ensure that documents are formatted in final
form for submission and/or publication.
9th-10th Grades
3.A.4 - Use standard English to edit documents for clarity, subject/verb agreement, adverb and adjective agreement and verb tense; proofread for spelling, capitalization and punctuation; and ensure that documents are formatted in final
form for submission and/or publication.

Massachusetts

3rd-9th Grades
7.4 - Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence (capitalization, end punctuation) and a paragraph (indentation, spacing).

New York

4th Grade
Writing Standard - Review work independently for spelling and conventional capitalization and punctuation

5th Grade
Writing Standard - Review writing independently in order to edit for correct spelling, grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and paragraphing.

6th Grade
Writing Standard - Observe rules of punctuation, italicization, capitalization, and spelling as follows: - punctuate correctly simple/compound/complex sentences, undivided/divided direct quotations, exact words from sources (quotations), titles of articles/literary works, and business letters.

Texas

3rd Grade
110.5 (b) (6) (C) - Read orally from familiar texts with fluency (accuracy, expression, appropriate phrasing, and attention to punctuation.
110.5 (b) (15) Compose original texts using the conventions of written language such as capitalization and penmanship to communicate clearly
110.5 (b) (15) (B) - Use capitalization and punctuation such as commas in a series, apostrophes in contractions such as can't and possessives such as Robin's, quotation marks, proper nouns, and abbreviations with increasing accuracy.
110.5 (b) (17) (C) - Compose elaborated sentences in written texts and use appropriate end punctuation.
110.5 (b) (18) (D) - Edit for appropriate grammar, spelling, punctuation, and features of polished writing
110.14 (a) (1) - Write with more complex capitalization and punctuation such as proper nouns and commas in a series.
110.14 (b) (23) Write legibly using appropriate capitalization and punctuation conventions in compositions.
110.14 (b) (23) (C) - Recognize and use punctuation marks including:

(i) apostrophes in contractions and possessives; and
(ii) commas in series and dates.

4th Grade
110.6 (b) (16) - Compose original texts, applying the conventions of written language, including capitalization, punctuation, and penmanship, to communicate clearly.
110.6 (b) (16) (B) - Capitalize and punctuate correctly to clarify and enhance meaning such as capitalizing titles, using possessives, commas in a series, commas in direct address, and sentence punctuation
110.15 (b) (21) Oral and Written Conventions/Handwriting, Capitalization, and Punctuation - Write legibly using appropriate capitalization and punctuation conventions in compositions.
110.15 (b) (21) (C) - Recognize and use punctuation marks including:

(i) commas in compound sentences; and
(ii) quotation marks.

5th Grade
110.7 (a) (1) - Edit writing based on knowledge of grammar and usage, spelling, punctuation, and other conventions of written language.
110.7 (b) (16) - Compose original texts, applying the conventions of written language, including capitalization, punctuation, and penmanship, to communicate clearly.
110.7 (b) (16) (B) - Capitalize and punctuate correctly to clarify and enhance meaning such as capitalizing titles, using possessives, commas in a series, commas in direct address, and sentence punctuation.
110.16 (b) (21) (B) - Recognize and use punctuation marks including:

(i) commas in compound sentences; and
(ii) proper punctuation and spacing for quotations

6th Grade
110.18 (b) (20) Write legibly using appropriate capitalization and punctuation conventions in compositions.
110.18 (b) (20) (B) - Recognize and use punctuation marks including:

(i) commas in compound sentences;
(ii) proper punctuation and spacing for quotations; and
(iii) parentheses, brackets, and ellipses (to indicate omissions and interruptions or incomplete statements)

110.22 (a) (1) - Vary sentence structure and use complex punctuation such as hyphens, semicolons, and possessives. Edit writing based on knowledge of grammar and usage, spelling, punctuation, and other conventions of written language.
110.22 (b) (16) - Compose original texts, applying conventions of written language such as capitalization, punctuation, penmanship, and spelling to communicate clearly.
110.22 (b) (16) (B) - Capitalize and punctuate correctly to clarify and enhance meaning such as capitalizing titles, using hyphens, semicolons, colons, possessives, and sentence punctuation.

7th Grade
110.19 (b) (20) Oral and Written Conventions/Handwriting, Capitalization, and Punctuation - Write legibly and use appropriate capitalization and punctuation conventions in compositions.
110.19 (b) (20) (B) - Recognize and use punctuation marks including:

(i) commas after introductory words, phrases, and clauses; and
(ii) semicolons, colons, and hyphens.

110.23 (a) (1) - Edit writing based on knowledge of grammar and usage, spelling, punctuation, and other conventions of written language.
110.23 (b) (16) (B) - Compose original texts, applying conventions of written language such as capitalization, punctuation, penmanship, and spelling to communicate clearly.
110.23 (b) (17) (A) - Write in complete sentences, varying the types such as compound and complex sentences, and use appropriately punctuated independent and dependent clauses.

8th Grade
110.20 (b) (20) - Write legibly and use appropriate capitalization and punctuation conventions in compositions. Apply earlier standards with greater complexity.
110.20 (b) (20) (B) - Use correct punctuation marks, including:

(i) commas after introductory structures and dependent adverbial clauses, and correct punctuation of complex sentences; and
(ii) semicolons, colons, hyphens, parentheses, brackets, and ellipses.

110.24 (a) (1) - Edit writing based on knowledge of grammar and usage, spelling, punctuation, and other conventions of written language.
110.24 (b) (16) B - Compose original texts, applying conventions of written language such as capitalization, punctuation, penmanship, and spelling to communicate clearly.
110.24 (b) (17) A - Write in complete sentences, varying types such as compound and complex sentences, and use appropriately punctuated independent and dependent clauses.

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