Punctuation - Dragon’s Lair

# Objectives:

Recognise commonly used punctuation marks.{.info} 

Gain an understanding of why punctuation is used in English writing.{.info} 


Welcome to the Punctuation Dragons’ Lair! This scene can be used with your students to introduce and recap on the rules of punctuation for:

- Full stops/periods

- Capital letters

- Quotation Marks

- Question marks

- Exclamation marks

- Commas

- Apostrophes

- Colons

- Semicolons

Each of the colourful dragons in the scene are associated with each form of punctuation and will display characteristics that link with the rules and usage of each form of punctuation as well as displaying the grapheme of the punctuation mark.



**The Full Stop/Period**

A full stop is also known as a **period**. It marks the end of a sentence. Students will be introduced to Freddy the Full Stop Dragon, who likes to bring sentences to an end with his gavel. His rounded appearance can be linked to the rounded shape of the full stop. Students are asked to describe what a full stop looks like.



**Capital Letters**

Capital letters are used to mark the beginning of a sentence, names of people, places, days of the week and time periods.

Cornelius the Capital Letter dragon is the largest of the dragons and students are asked to consider why he’s the largest. Link his size with representing upper-case letters, and his eagerness to be first with beginning a sentence.



**Quotation Marks**

Quotation marks, also referred to as **speech marks** or inverted commas; go before and after words that a character in a story says.

Quinn the Quotation Marks Dragon is a chatterbox. Her multiple heads can be linked to the idea of speech. As students move close to her, they will hear the sound of children talking.



**Question Mark**

Question marks go on the end of every question! Remember to use a capital letter for the first word of the next sentence.

Quentin Question Mark Dragon is a curious sort, his appearance as a scientist can be linked with the idea of questioning. Question words in English typically begin with the letters, ‘wh’ (what, where, why, when).



**Exclamation Mark**

Exclamation marks add expression and emotion to writing.

Eric the Exclamation Dragon is a temperamental fella, he can go from fire-breathing furious to happy and excitable in a heartbeat! Because exclamation marks show emotion, students can discuss how Eric might be feeling in the lair.



**Commas**

Commas are a useful tool to change the meaning of a sentence and break up longer sentences.

Christian the Comma Dragon is a calm soul. He can be found practicing his breathing exercises and calming the other dragons. His peaceful characteristics can be linked to taking pauses in clauses and when making lists.



**Apostrophes*

Apostrophes are used in two different ways.

The possessive apostrophe is used to show something belongs to someone or something. Apostrophes are also used to take the place of removed letters.

Alina the Apostrophe Dragon is a mysterious character, to reflect the often confusing, nature of apostrophes in English. She is depicted protectively guarding gold to show apostrophes’ use for possession. Students should think about which words lose vowels when combined with an apostrophe.



**Colons**

Colons are used to introduce something. We use them before a list, explanation, answer or quotation.

Cassia the Colon Dragon loves to be organised and carries a clipboard. Students can associate her appearance with organising lists and introducing. They will be asked to describe what a colon looks like.



**Semicolons**

Semicolons are used in a sentence to join closely connected ideas. They can also be used to replace a conjunction (‘but’ or ‘like) and separating complex lists.

Sabrina the Semicolon Dragon is characterised as wise, patient and slow moving to reflect the strong pauses of semicolons. A semicolon looks like a full stop on top of a comma. Students can be drawn to the combination of the two punctuation marks combined to link to the idea that a semicolon is stronger than a comma but not as final as a full stop.

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