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Knowledge and Skills Statement

Composition: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts--writing process. The student uses the writing process recursively to compose multiple texts that are legible and uses appropriate conventions.

Task students with a cooperative learning writing activity. Before submitting their finished products, have students review their writing for properly used punctuation. Provide students with a checklist of punctuation to look for.

The checklist could include the following:

  • Commas in complex sentences
  • Commas in transitions
  • Commas in introductory elements
  • Commas in a series
     

Further Explanation

This assessment requires students to apply their knowledge of correct punctuation and formatting when using commas in complex sentences, transitions, and introductory elements. The focus of this assessment is on demonstrating appropriate use of commas. Students should be able to successfully evaluate the correct use of commas and make necessary changes to improve the quality of their writing.

a sentence with an independent clause and at least one dependent clause (e.g., Me fui a bañar cuando los invitados se fueron)
During the editing stage of the writing process, students further improve their draft and often prepare it for publishing by correcting convention errors. Ensuring that the standard rules of the Spanish language have been applied correctly helps the audience to more easily comprehend the information because they are not having to interrupt their thinking to determine what the writer intended to say.
Specific symbols, referred to as punctuation marks, are used in writing to help the reader understand the information as it was intended by the writer or author. Commas have many uses. One important way in which commas are used is to join two grammatically complete thoughts that have been connected by a coordinating conjunction (e.g., y, o, pero, aunque, o sea). For example, in the sentence Las vacaciones de verano fueron maravillosas, pero ya tenía ganas de regresar a mi casa, two complete thoughts are expressed, but because they are so closely related, the comma and conjunction can be used to connect them as one sentence. Commas can also be used in transitions, like además, también, entonces. For example, Había mucho tránsito en las calles. Además, los semáforos dejaron de funcionar. Commas should also be placed after introductory elements like in the following example, Después de completar todo el maratón, el corredor pudo por fin descansar. Without correct punctuation, written text can be easily misinterpreted.
standard rules of the Spanish language, including written mechanics such as punctuation, capitalization, spelling, paragraphing, etc. and written/oral grammar such as parts of speech, word order, subject-verb agreement, and sentence structure
words or phrases purposefully used to help sustain a thought or idea, linking sentences and paragraphs together smoothly so that there are no abrupt jumps or breaks between ideas