When Comma Came to Town

Commas

Comm m a Ca  W hen  Whe n Com Comma ma Came me  to  t o To w n  BY S AMANTHA B ERGER I LLUSTRATED BY D OU G J ONES

What’s in your pockets right now? What would you find if you emptied your backpack? Write a sentence listing the things you’re carrying around with you today. Be sure to use commas in all the right places!

7. ❍ S. Comma could see that they were in trouble, so he promised to help them.

❍ T. Comma could see that they were in trouble so, he promised, to help them.

❍ U. Comma could see, that they were in trouble, so he promised to help them.

8. ❍ V  V.. He taught them how to make their sentences, neater shorter and cleaner.

❍ W. He taught them how to make their sentences neater, shorter, and cleaner.

We tea teach arten an a nd kindergarten kinderg ades 1 an a nd 2 gr ades and 3 and 4.

❍ X . He taught them, how to make their sentences neater, shorter and cleaner.  G r   a m m  a r  T    a l     e  s  T    e  a  c  h   i   n  g  G  u i    d    e P   a  g  e  7   7 

9. ❍ Y . Everyone was grateful especially the people, who worked at the sign factory!

❍ Z. Everyone was grateful especially the people who worked at the sign factory!

❍ A. Everyone was grateful, especially the people who worked at the sign factory! 20

Once upon a time, there was a place called And. It had the longest sentences in all the land. 1

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Now crack the code! Each number below stands for one of the questions. Write the letter of the correct answer above each number. Then read your secret message!

Now you’re using “comma ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ “! 7

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2

5

7

2

 A  21

4. ❍ J. The town which was small barely had room for its own signs!

❍ K. The town, which was small, barely had room for its own signs!

❍ L. The town which was small barely had room, for its own signs!

5. ❍ M. The grocery store had the longest messiest sign he’d ever seen.

❍ N. The grocery store had the longest, messiest sign he’d ever seen.

❍ O. The grocery store, had the longest, messiest sign he’d ever seen.

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Join the Comma Club! Look at each set of sentences. Fill in the circle next to the sentence that uses commas correctly. Then use the letters of your answers to decode the secret message at the end.

1. ❍ A. Comma traveled over a bridge across a river

and through the woods to get to town.

❍ B. Comma traveled over a bridge, across a river, and through the woods to get to town.

❍ C. Comma traveled, over a bridge, across a river and through the woods to get to, town.

2. ❍ D. He stopped at a restaurant for a hamburger some fries and a shake.

❍ E. He stopped at a restaurant for a hamburger, some fries, and a shake.

❍ F. He stopped, at a restaurant, for a hamburger some fries and a shake.

3. ❍ G. Finally, he arrived, in the town, of And. arrived, in the town, of And. ❍ H. Finally he arrived, Finally,, he arrived in the town of And. ❍ I. Finally

When your sentence has a list, you can put commas between each item instead of the word and . The sentence gets shorter shorter and sounds better!

 As soon as Comma came to town, he took their sentences and cut them down.

18

3

On a separate sheet, shorten

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Let’s Review:

Commas

Commas can help separate ideas and clear up the meaning of a sentence. ★

Commas are used to separate a list of items, adjectives, or phrases. For instance: My favorite colors are blue , green , an and d re red  d .

★

Commas are also used to separate two parts of a sentence. This helps make the meaning of the sentence clear. For instance: As Sue sat sat down down to eat , her dog took  a bite . That sentence would be very confusing without the comma!

★

You can also use commas to make one sentence out of two shorter ones. For instance: My fish is red . His name  is Ned . These ideas might be joined with commas to become: Ned , my fish , is red .

Words like but  but and and yet  yet are are often used with a comma to  join sentences. For For instance: I like soccer . I don’t like  baseball . The joined sentence might read: I like soccer , but I don’t like baseball .

★

★

Before that, lists went on and on— and conversations made folks yawn! C 4

How can you tell when you should use a comma? Remember that a comma is like a pause when someone is speaking. Try Try reading the sentence out loud. If a short pause makes sense, a comma probably will, too! 17

Commas can often be found in sentences that have the words but , yet , and although . See if you can can figure out where commas belong in these sentences: 1. She loves soccer but not as much as gymnastics. 2. He tried and tried yet he just couldn’t hula-hoop. 3. I don’t like broccoli although

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There were other places he needed to go—

With Comma’s help, their sign looked neater—

like But and Yet, not to mention Although.

crisper, cleaner, shorter, and sweeter!

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7

T h  h r  r ee c h e e r s

f  o r  r  C o m m a  !

As Sue sat down to eat  her dog took a bite.

,

Where do you think commas should go in this

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As Sue sat down to eat her dog took a bite te..

Yet there was more that Comma could do. He cleaned up confusing sentences, too:  As Sue sat down to eat her dog took a bite! Sue ATE her dog?! That couldn’t be right. 8

But then, one day day,, with a great big sigh, it was time for Comma to say good-bye. E 13