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7th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 8 of 13

Punctuation Power

Colons, however and ellipses

What your child practices

Using a colon before a quotation, a semicolon with words like however and therefore, and ellipses or dashes to show a pause, an omission or a break.

Maine Learning Results learning standard: Language 2 · colons, conjunctive adverbs and ellipses

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Use a semicolon before however or therefore when it joins two sentences, and a comma after: “It was icy; therefore, we walked.”
  2. Use commas around however when it interrupts one sentence.
  3. Dashes show an interruption or break. An ellipsis (…) shows a pause or words left out. A colon can introduce a quotation.

Example: “The path was icy ___ therefore ___ we walked slowly.” What goes in the blanks? “Therefore” joins two complete sentences. Put a semicolon before it and a comma after. Answer: ; and ,

Punctuation Power in Maine

In the Maine Learning Results, this is unit 8 of 13 in 7th grade English Language Arts, after Poetry Lab and before Whose Story?.

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: Maine 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.

  1. Question 1

    Which sentence is punctuated correctly?

    • The movie was long; however, I enjoyed it.
    • The movie was long however; I enjoyed it.
    • The movie was long; however I enjoyed it.

  2. Question 2

    Which sentence is punctuated correctly?

    • The path was icy therefore; we walked slowly.
    • The path was icy; therefore, we walked slowly.
    • The path was icy, therefore, we walked slowly.

  3. Question 3

    Which is a conjunctive adverb?

    • but
    • although
    • meanwhile

  4. Question 4

    Which sentence is punctuated correctly?

    • It was late, still; we stayed.
    • It was late; still, we stayed.
    • It was late: still we stayed.

  5. Question 5

    What does the ellipsis (…) show here? “I think … we should go,” said Kai.

    • a title
    • a question
    • a pause or something left out

  6. Question 6

    Which sentence uses a colon to introduce a quotation correctly?

    • Coach said; one thing “Never stop trying.”
    • Coach said one thing: “Never stop trying.”
    • Coach said one thing “Never: stop trying.”

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