← 2.5.1 Mechanics of Writing: Punctuation

Punctuation in a short composition

English · Grade 8 · about 40 minutes

Write a short composition on a scientific innovation using commas, apostrophes and capitals, then peer-assess.

Sign in to read this lesson

Lessons are for learners and teachers with an account. Browsing the curriculum — subjects, strands and what each sub-strand covers — stays open to everyone.

7 sections of explanation, worked examples and diagrams
1 practice task with hints and worked answers
A quiz that marks itself as you go
Your progress kept across every subject you take

Other lessons in this sub-strand

Comma, apostrophe and capital letter
Punctuation in a short composition

English

Grade 8

1 Human Rights
- 1.1 Listening and Speaking
  - 1.1.1 Polite Language: Telephone Etiquette
    
    Polite words on the telephone
    
    Leaving and taking a telephone message
- 1.2 Reading
  - 1.2.1 Extensive Reading: Independent Reading
    
    Choosing print and non-print texts
    
    Reading for information and enjoyment
- 1.3 Grammar in Use
  - 1.3.1 Word classes: Compound Nouns
    
    Spotting compound nouns
    
    Singular and plural compound nouns
- 1.4 Reading
  - 1.4.1 Intensive Reading: Short Stories (Class Reader)
    
    Sequencing events in a short story
    
    Context clues and inferential questions
- 1.5 Writing
  - 1.5.1 Writing legibly and neatly
    
    Letter heights, case and spacing
    
    Neat cancellation and a human-rights narrative
2 Scientific Innovations
- 2.1 Listening and Speaking
  - 2.1.1 Oral Presentations: Songs
    
    Features and techniques of a song
    
    Write and present a song on an innovation
- 2.2 Reading
  - 2.2.1 Intensive Reading: Simple poems
    
    Persona and what the poem is about
    
    Repetition, real life and a poem of your own
- 2.3 Grammar in Use
  - 2.3.1 Word classes: Collective Nouns
    
    Collective nouns for people, animals and things
    
    Singular and plural collective nouns
- 2.4 Reading
  - 2.4.1 Intensive Reading: Short story (Class Reader)
    
    Setting: time and place
    
    Episodes in order, setting compared
- 2.5 Writing
  - 2.5.1 Mechanics of Writing: Punctuation
    
    Comma, apostrophe and capital letter
    
    Punctuation in a short composition
3 Pollution
- 3.1 Listening and Speaking
  - 3.1.1 Listening Comprehension
    
    Main idea in a cause-and-effect text
    
    Specific information and context clues
- 3.2 Reading
  - 3.2.1 Intensive Reading
    
    Predict, then read a pollution passage
    
    Infer word meanings and role-play
- 3.3 Grammar in Use
  - 3.3.1 Word Classes: Primary Auxiliaries
    
    Spot be, do and have
    
    Using be, do and have in conservation writing
- 3.4 Reading
  - 3.4.1 Intensive reading: Poetry
    
    Structure of a pollution poem
    
    Meaning, values and a poem of your own
- 3.5 Writing
  - 3.5.1 Paragraphing: Sequencing of Ideas
    
    Conjunctions that sequence a paragraph
    
    Build a sequenced paragraph
4 Consumer Roles And Responsibilites
- 4.1 Listening and Speaking
  - 4.1.1 Listening Comprehension: Selective Listening
    
    General versus specific information
    
    Select facts and respond
- 4.2 Reading
  - 4.2.1 Intensive Reading
    
    Reading for the main idea
    
    Details, tables and a mind map
- 4.3 Mathematics
  - 4.3.1 Verbs and Tense
    
    Simple present on consumer duties
    
    Simple past on consumer stories
- 4.4 Reading
  - 4.4.1 Intensive Reading: Short story (Class Reader)
    
    Who is in the story?
    
    Infer traits, compare, role-play
- 4.5 Social Studies
  - 4.5.1 Paragraphing: Connectors of sequence
    
    Spot connectors of sequence
    
    Write and edit a sequenced paragraph
5 Relationships: Peers
- 5.1 Listening and Speaking
  - 5.1.1 Pronunciation
    
    Four sounds: pot, port, think, this
    
    Emphatic stress in peer talk
- 5.2 Kiswahili / Kenya Sign Language
  - 5.2.1 Study Skills- Reference Materials
    
    Dictionary and thesaurus
    
    Antonyms, encyclopaedia and a crossword
- 5.3 Grammar in Use
  - 5.3.1 Word Classes: adjectives
    
    Gradable adjectives
    
    Non-gradable adjectives
- 5.4 Religious Education
  - 5.4.1 Intensive Reading: Short story (Class Reader)
    
    Find dialogue and repetition
    
    Why dialogue and repetition matter
- 5.5 Writing
  - 5.5.1 Functional Writing: Apology Letters
    
    Parts of an apology letter
    
    Write a letter of apology
6 Rehabilitation
- 6.1 Listening and Speaking
  - 6.1.1 Conversational Skills: Disagreeing politely
    
    Ways of disagreeing politely
    
    Non-verbal cues and a polite-no dialogue
- 6.2 Reading
  - 6.2.1 Reading Fluency: Poem
    
    Techniques that make reading faster and clearer
    
    Accuracy, expression and reader's theatre
- 6.3 Grammar in Use
  - 6.3.1 Word Classes: Adverbs
    
    Adverbs of frequency
    
    Adverbs of degree
- 6.4 Reading
  - 6.4.1 Intensive Reading: short story (Class Reader)
    
    Main ideas and the storyline
    
    Summarise, act, and relate to real life
- 6.5 Writing
  - 6.5.1 Mechanics of Writing
    
    Misspellings, prefixes and suffixes
    
    ie, ei and a short spelled composition
7 Natural Resources: Wildlife
- 7.1 Listening and Speaking
  - 7.1.1 Listening for Detail
    
    Main ideas from a wildlife listening text
    
    Details, questions and an outline
- 7.2 Reading
  - 7.2.1 Intensive Reading: Visuals
    
    Name the visual and start interpreting
    
    Connect, summarise, and make a visual
- 7.3 Grammar in Use
  - 7.3.1 Word Classes: Pronouns
    
    Indefinite pronouns
    
    Reflexive pronouns
- 7.4 Reading
  - 7.4.1 Intensive Reading: Short story (Class Reader)
    
    Characters: main and minor
    
    Relationship map and real life
- 7.5 Writing
  - 7.5.1 Composition Writing
    
    Steps in the writing process
    
    Draft, revise, edit and share a dialogue
8 Tourism: Domestic
- 8.1 Listening and Speaking
  - 8.1.1 Listening and Responding: Oral Narratives - Myths
    
    Characters and events in a myth
    
    Moral, real life and a place on the map
- 8.2 Reading
  - 8.2.1 Intensive Reading: Poem
    
    Select information and infer words
    
    Recite, judge with evidence, debate
- 8.3 Grammar in Use
  - 8.3.1 Word Classes: Simple prepositions
    
    Prepositions of place and position
    
    Prepositions of time
- 8.4 Reading
  - 8.4.1 Intensive Reading: Poetry
    
    What is an inanimate character?
    
    Role-play the thing, relate it to people
- 8.5 Writing
  - 8.5.1 Assessment of writing
    
    Spot errors and suggest a fix
    
    Write, assess, edit, display
9 Heroes And Heroines: Africa
- 9.1 Listening and Speaking
  - 9.1.1 Pronunciation – sounds and stress
    
    9.1.1.2 Stressed and unstressed words (content and function words)
    
    Content words take the beat
    
    Emphatic stress and a hero poem
- 9.2 Reading
  - 9.2.1 Extensive Reading: Grade appropriate fiction Materials - Characters
    
    Name the people; prove a trait
    
    Role-play, relate, choose a favourite
- 9.3 Grammar in use
  - 9.3.1 Word Classes: Conjunctions – because, that, when, if, unless, and since
    
    Because, that, when, if, unless, since
    
    Sentences, dialogue and a hero poster
- 9.4 Reading
  - 9.4.1 Intensive Reading: Similes and metaphors
    
    Hunt similes and metaphors
    
    Use comparisons in hero sentences
- 9.5 Writing
  - 9.5.1 Creative Writing: Narrative Compositions (240-280 words)
    
    Recall a moment and plan the spine
    
    Draft, peer-check, publish
10 Art
- 10.1 Listening and Speaking
  - 10.1.1 Oral Presentations
    
    Speech format, hooks and last lines
    
    Prepare and present an art speech
- 10.2 Reading
  - 10.2.1 Study Skills: Note Making
    
    Key points, signposts, margin notes
    
    Paraphrase, abbreviations, regroup
- 10.3 Grammar in Use
  - 10.3.1 Word Classes: Demonstratives and Quantifiers
    
    This, that, these, those
    
    Few, a few, little, a little, many
- 10.4 Reading
  - 10.4.1 Intensive Reading: Short story (Class Reader)
    
    Main events and setting
    
    Relate the events to real life
- 10.5 Writing
  - 10.5.1 Functional Writing: Thank you and Congratulatory notes
    
    When to write, and the layout
    
    Write, gallery-critique, revise
11 Choosing A Career
- 11.1 Listening and Speaking
  - 11.1.1 Conversational Skills: interviews
    
    Polite phrases in a radio or TV interview
    
    Conduct a career interview and hot-seat
- 11.2 Reading
  - 11.2.1 Extensive Reading: Non- fiction
    
    Choose and skim career non-fiction
    
    Scan, look up, share road and career facts
- 11.3 Grammar in Use
  - 11.3.1 Word Classes: Adverbs
    
    From adjective to adverb
    
    Use -ly adverbs in career sentences
- 11.4 Reading
  - 11.4.1 Intensive Reading: Lessons Learnt (Class Reader)
    
    Derive lessons from actions and words
    
    Role-play and apply a lesson
- 11.5 Writing
  - 11.5.1 Mechanics of Writing: Prefixes and Suffixes
    
    Spot and break prefixes and suffixes
    
    Dictation and correct forms in sentences
12 Modern Fashion
- 12.1 Listening and Speaking
  - 12.1.1 Listening to Respond: Attitude
    
    Message in a song, then your attitude
    
    Perform the feeling; discuss the issue
- 12.2 Reading
  - 12.2.1 Intensive Reading: Comprehension Strategies
    
    Sentences that make pictures
    
    Infer words and hidden information
- 12.3 Grammar in Use
  - 12.3.1 Phrasal Verbs
    
    Spot phrasal verbs from make, pass, look
    
    Use the phrases in fashion talk
- 12.4 Reading
  - 12.4.1 Short Story: Characters (Class Reader)
    
    List, prove and compare characters
    
    Paragraph, role-play, living likeness
- 12.5 Writing
  - 12.5.1 The writing process
    
    Stages of the process and dialogue format
    
    Draft, edit, revise, publish the dialogue
13 Consumer Protection
- 13.1 Listening and Speaking
  - 13.1.1 Extensive Listening: Poems
    
    Messages in consumer poems
    
    Perform, record, review what stands out
- 13.2 Reading
  - 13.2.1 Intensive Reading: Comprehension strategies
    
    Key points and the five senses
    
    Summary map and own-words paragraph
- 13.3 Grammar in Use
  - 13.3.1 Word Classes: Compound Sentences
    
    Spot compound sentences: and, but, or, so
    
    Build compound sentences on consumer protection
- 13.4 Reading
  - 13.4.1 Short Story: Style (Class Reader)
    
    Hunt personification and flashback
    
    Dramatise the wall and the memory
- 13.5 Writing
  - 13.5.1 Creative Narrative Composition: Idioms
    
    Seven idioms in true contexts
    
    A narrative that earns the idioms
14 Sports: Olympics
- 14.1 Listening and Speaking
  - 14.1.1 Pronunciation and Intonation
    
    Silent letters in sports words
    
    Falling statements and living exclamations
- 14.2 Reading
  - 14.2.1 Study Skills
    
    Main ideas and notes from a safety description
    
    A connected summary of a set length
- 14.3 Grammar in Use
  - 14.3.1 Sentences: Active and Passive Voice
    
    Spot the doer and the receiver
    
    Transform and choose the voice
- 14.4 Reading
  - 14.4.1 Extensive reading: Short story (Class Reader)
    
    Ideas the story conveys
    
    Relate the ideas; dramatise a living section
- 14.5 Writing
  - 14.5.1 Creative Writing: Descriptive Writing
    
    A sense bank for people, places, events
    
    Draft, peer-review, publish a sports description
15 Tourist Attraction Sites: Africa
- 15.1 Listening and Speaking
  - 15.1.1 Oral Reports: Events
    
    Sequence an out-of-class event
    
    Present with verbal and non-verbal cues
- 15.2 Reading
  - 15.2.1 Reading Fluency
    
    Name the aspects; use the strategies
    
    Reader’s theatre and a choral verse
- 15.3 Grammar in Use
  - 15.3.1 Types of Sentences: Interrogative sentences
    
    WH, yes/no, alternatives and tags
    
    Ask and answer on African sites
- 15.4 Reading
  - 15.4.1 Poems
    
    Subject matter and ideas in own words
    
    Lessons, relationships, a poster
- 15.5 Writing
  - 15.5.1 Functional Writing: Personal Journals
    
    Why a journal, and what goes in it
    
    Write, reread, evaluate, choose what to share