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6th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 6 of 12

Commas & Clauses

Clauses, sentence types and commas

What your child practices

Finding dependent clauses, telling simple, compound and complex sentences apart, and using commas in lists, compound sentences, introductions and appositives.

Alabama Course of Study content standard: 6.16; 6.19 · commas, clauses and sentence types

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. A dependent clause starts with words like if, although, because or when and can’t stand alone.
  2. Simple: one clause. Compound: two independent clauses joined by and, but or so. Complex: an independent clause plus a dependent one.
  3. Use commas in lists, before and/but/so in compound sentences, after an opening clause and around appositives.

Example: “Although it was late, we kept reading.” Why does it need a comma? “Although it was late” is a dependent clause. It comes first, so a comma sets it off. Answer: It sets off an introductory dependent clause.

Commas & Clauses in Alabama

In the Alabama Course of Study, this is unit 6 of 12 in 6th grade English Language Arts, after Sentence Repair and before Roots & Analogies.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Why is there a comma in this sentence? “Ravi made dinner, and Ana washed the dishes.”

    • It separates a dependent clause at the end.
    • It separates items in a list.
    • It sets off an introductory word.
    • It comes before “and” to join two independent clauses.

  2. Question 2

    Which word is the subordinating conjunction?

    Since the gym was busy, we practiced outside.

    • Since
    • gym
    • practiced
    • outside

  3. Question 3

    Which part is the dependent (subordinate) clause?

    Although the water was cold, Priya jumped right in.

    • the water
    • Although the water was cold
    • jumped right in
    • Priya jumped right in

  4. Question 4

    What type of sentence is this?

    Maya laughed when the puppy sneezed.

    • Compound
    • Simple
    • Complex

  5. Question 5

    Why does this sentence need a comma? “Although it was late, we kept reading.”

    • It sets off a speaker's exact words.
    • It sets off an introductory dependent clause.
    • It joins two complete sentences with no conjunction.
    • It separates items in a list.

  6. Question 6

    What type of sentence is this?

    If it snows tomorrow, we will build a snowman.

    • Complex
    • Simple
    • Compound

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