3rd grade · English Language Arts · Unit 4 of 13
Punctuation Power
Commas, apostrophes and quotes
What your child practices
Choosing end marks, using commas in lists and dates, writing contractions and possessives with apostrophes, and putting quotation marks around speech.
Arizona Academic Standards learning standard: 3.L.2 · commas, apostrophes and quotation marks
How we explain it
Children can open this short lesson before they practice.
- End a statement with a period, a question with ?, and strong feeling with !
- Use commas between things in a list.
- An apostrophe takes the place of missing letters: do not → don’t. Quotation marks go around the exact words someone says.
Example: What is the contraction for “cannot”? Join the two parts: can + not. The apostrophe stands for the missing letters. Answer: can’t
Punctuation Power in Arizona
In the Arizona Academic Standards, this is unit 4 of 13 in 3rd grade English Language Arts, after Word Jobs and before Spelling Patterns.
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.
- 3rd grade guide for Arizona parents
- Printable 3rd grade English Language Arts sheet
- Arizona report cards explained
Source: Arizona Department of Education
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
Which sentence uses quotation marks correctly?
- “May I borrow a pencil?” asked Kenji.
- “May I borrow” a pencil? asked Kenji.
- May I borrow a pencil? “asked Kenji.”
- “May I borrow a pencil? asked Kenji.”
“May I borrow a pencil?” asked Kenji.
Hint: Quotation marks go around only the exact words someone says, like a speech bubble. Kenji's exact words are: May I borrow a pencil?
Question 2
Which sentence uses commas correctly?
- Maya packed apples grapes, and crackers.
- Maya packed apples grapes and crackers.
- Maya packed apples, grapes, and crackers.
Maya packed apples, grapes, and crackers.
Hint: Put commas between the items in a list: apples, grapes, and crackers. No comma before the list starts or after “and.”
Question 3
Which end mark belongs in the box?
Hooray, the rain finally stopped
- .
- ?
- !
!
Hint: Does the sentence show a strong feeling, like surprise or excitement? Use an exclamation mark (!).
Question 4
Which sentence uses commas correctly?
- Lena's garden has roses, tulips, and daisies.
- Lena's garden has, roses tulips and daisies.
- Lena's garden has roses, tulips, and, daisies.
Lena's garden has roses, tulips, and daisies.
Hint: Put commas between the items in a list: roses, tulips, and daisies. No comma before the list starts or after “and.”
Question 5
What is the contraction for “she is”?
- sh'es
- she's
- shes
she's
Hint: A contraction squeezes two words together. An apostrophe (') takes the place of the missing letters: she is → she's.
Question 6
Which sentence uses quotation marks correctly?
- I found a frog! “shouted Zoe.”
- “I found a frog!” shouted Zoe.
- “I found” a frog! shouted Zoe.
- “I found a frog! shouted Zoe.”
“I found a frog!” shouted Zoe.
Hint: Quotation marks go around only the exact words someone says, like a speech bubble. Zoe's exact words are: I found a frog!