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Teacher notes · not for pupils Punctuation sequence

Colon, Then the List

Colons to introduce a list; semi-colons within a list

Lesson 14 of 14
Year 6 45 min

Objective

Use a colon to introduce a list after a complete sentence, and use semi-colons to separate items in a list that already contains commas.

Board title: Colons and list semicolons  ·  Say it: “Today we're using a colon to introduce a list, with a whole sentence in front of it, and semicolons to keep the long items apart.”

Curriculum

  • Y6: using a colon to introduce a list and using semi-colons within lists
  • Y6: using semi-colons, colons and dashes to mark the boundary between independent clauses
  • Y2: commas to separate items in a list (revisited)
  • Terminology: colon · semi-colon · list · item · clause

Success criteria

  • check the words before the colon make a sentence
  • use a colon to introduce a list
  • swap commas for semicolons when items get long
  • punctuate a list whose items have commas inside

Key vocabulary

colon · semi-colon · list · item · clause · introduce · separate

Run of the lesson

5 min
Starter: put We need eggs, six of them, flour, plain, and sugar. on the board, commas only. Ask them to read it aloud and count the items, and let them feel the comma run out of road. Don't name the semicolon yet.
10 min
Model the two marks: You will need three things: ice, lime and soda, covering the list with your hand every time to check what is left stands alone. Then grow the items until the commas fail and the semicolons take over: mango, ripe and sweet; lime, freshly cut; ice.
5 min
Smoothie Shake-Up, Spicy band, level 1, five minutes only: it does comma lists and nothing more. Its multi-word items are the warm-up, so ask what would happen if each item had a comma inside it, then close the game and go back to the board.
6 min
Trap and votes from the slides: The ingredients are: mango, ice and lime. Cover the list, The ingredients are cannot stand up, so the colon goes. Four votes, a WHY before each reveal (answers: a-left, b-right, c-left, d-right).
15 min
Worksheet, independent. Circulate on Task 3: the tell is a semicolon sprinkled over a short list, so ask of every mark, is it introducing after a whole sentence, or separating items that already carry commas?
4 min
Plenary: two children read a Task 3 list aloud, pausing at every semicolon, while the class checks the words in front of the colon. Then the class quiz: why can the colon on Polpetta's recipe card not stay?
On screenSPAGhetti → Smoothie Shake-Up → Spicy. One screen only; no pupil devices needed. Say this to yourself before you plan, because it decides how the lesson runs: Smoothie Shake-Up only does comma lists. Its Spicy band gets the class as far as a long list of multi-word items, fresh mango, crushed ice, lime juice, fizzy water, and no further. There is no colon and no semi-colon anywhere in the bank. That is still the right warm-up, because those multi-word items are exactly why a comma eventually runs out of road: play level 1 for five minutes, then ask what would happen if each item had a comma inside it, and close the game there. The colon and the semi-colon are taught from the slides and the worksheet until The Recipe Card game is built. Do not spend the full ten minutes on the game today; five is plenty, and the board needs the rest.
SPAGhetti · Punctuation sequence · Lesson 14 of 14  ·  Teacher notes 1 of 2
Teacher notes · not for pupils Colon, Then the List · side 2

On the day

If the tech failsSkip the game entirely, you were only using it for five minutes anyway. Task 1 is the same content on paper: read the four pairs aloud and vote with thumbs. Then write one list on the board and grow the items a word at a time until the class can hear the commas failing. That is the lesson.
If they're on devicesLesson code CLNSF (on the worksheet footer) opens the right game, locks the café until 10 items are done, then unlocks it as the reward.

Misconceptions to watch for

A colon after half a sentence, in a list that runs across the page. The ingredients are: mango, ice and lime. This is the one that survives into secondary school, because it looks like every recipe book they have ever seen. Cover the list with a hand: The ingredients are cannot stand alone, so the colon goes. Either drop the colon, or rewrite the front so it is a sentence, You will need three things: and then the list. Bulleted lists are the one exception: there the stem may stop halfway (see Every Line the Same).

Colon and semi-colon treated as the same mark. Bring these; a glass, a straw and ice. They know both are 'bigger than a comma' and choose by look. Give them the two verbs and make them say which one they need: introduce, or separate. Nothing else distinguishes the marks in this objective.

Semi-colons sprinkled over short lists. Mix ice; lime; soda. Having just met the mark, they use it everywhere, and it reads as though the writer is trying to impress. The semi-colon earns its place only when the items already contain commas. If the commas are coping, leave them alone.

A capital letter after the colon, or a heading mistaken for a sentence. You will need: Ice, lime and soda. A list after a colon carries on in lower case unless the item is a name. And a label on a recipe card, Ingredients:, is a heading, not prose; it is fine on the card and wrong in the middle of a paragraph. Show both and name the difference, or they will quote the card back at you.

The three sheets

Same four tasks on every sheet, in the same order, with the same look. Only the demand changes. Print the one each child needs; nobody does two.

Mild

Same four tasks as every other sheet, same order, same look, the demand is lower, not the dignity. Shorter passage in Task 2, and in Task 3 a word bank or words to tick, with printed sentence starters. Give it to anyone who needs a way in, and expect them to move up.

Medium

The core sheet. Give this to most of the class. No word bank; in Task 3 pupils choose from a few close options, then use one in a sentence of their own.

Spicy

Same four tasks, more demand, a longer passage with a subtler error, and Task 3 asks for two things at once. Not extra work; harder work. Nobody should be doing Spicy and the Medium sheet.

Adaptive teaching

  • Support: the colon only. Ten sentences, cover the list, decide whether the colon stays. Leave the semi-colon for another day.
  • SEN: gentle mode on; give the front half of each sentence on a card so the decision is only about the mark.
  • Stretch: Task 3 extension, the same list punctuated twice, and a sentence saying which version they would print and why.
  • EAL: the colon and the semi-colon exist in most European punctuation systems but not always with these jobs. Name the job each time, introduce, separate, rather than relying on the name of the mark.

Play it

Lesson code CLNSF at playspaghetti.com. The code is printed on the bottom of every pupil sheet with a QR, and Class Quiz in your dashboard opens the plenary quiz for this lesson pre-picked.

SPAGhetti · Punctuation sequence · Lesson 14 of 14  ·  Teacher notes, not for pupils 2 of 2  ·  Ludora