Commas

In this scene, students are tasked with helping Christian the Comma Dragon, find his missing commas and possessions which have fallen out of a hole in the bottom of his backpack following a hike up Jelly Mountain.

Students will re-trace Christian’s steps by climbing up the mountain, stopping at each level to read a piece of text and move interactive comma punctuation marks to the correct placement in the text written of the cave walls. Other objects from Christian’s bag will be placed around each tier of the mountain for students to spot.

# Objectives

1: Understand four ways commas are used in writing.{.info}

2: Practice using commas in an interactive activity.{.info}


# Making Lists{.objective .objective1}

The following story text will be displayed in the cave on the first tier of the mountain:

*Christian the Comma Dragon had just finished a hike up Jelly Mountain when he noticed his backpack felt much too light. He saw a hole in the bottom of it and realised his possessions and commas had fallen out! Can you help him find the commas to separate the items in his list?*

*Hat, water bottle, cookies, map, and trail mix.*

Commas should be placed between the following words: **Hat, water bottle, cookies, map, and trail mix.**

Christian’s missing object on this tier: Hat, located on the head of a rabbit.


# Separating Clauses{.objective .objective2}

This section will give an overview of using commas to separate independent and subordinate clauses.

The following story text will be displayed in the cave on the second tier of the mountain without commas, the corrected version is as follows:

*Christian called his friend Quinn the Quotation Marks Dragon. She advised him to re-trace his steps back up the mountain to see what he could find. He collected his list and although he was tired from his hike, he started the long journey back up the mountain.*

*Use Christian’s commas to separate an independent and subordinate clause in the sentence above.*

Commas will be hidden around the cave on each tier for students to find.

Christian’s missing object on this tier: map, hidden in a bird’s nest.


# Separating Adjectives {.objective .objective3}

The following story text will be displayed in the cave on the second tier of the mountain without commas, the corrected version is as follows: :

*Christian was pleased to find some of his missing items as he travelled back up the mountain, but he still needed help finding more of his commas. Quinn called him and asked him what they looked like. Christian knew his commas well, so described them as small, curved punctuation marks. As well as separating clauses and items in a list, they also separate adjectives.*

Commas will be hidden around the cave on each tier for students to find.

Christian’s missing object on this tier: Cookies which are being eaten by a bear.


# Introducing Speech{.objective .objective4}

The following story text will be displayed in the cave on the second tier of the mountain:

*After an exhausting trek up Jelly Mountain, Christian was surprised to find Quinn at the top. He remembered that his remaining missing commas are used before speech in a sentence. He shouted, “Quinn, I’m so glad to see you!” Quinn replied, “Me too and I’m so happy you have found your missing things! Now how about we fly down the mountain this time?” Christian agreed that this would save his poor aching feet!*

Commas will be hidden around the cave on each tier for students to find.

Christian’s missing object on this tier: Trail mix which has been taken by a squirrel.

# Download the Teacher Notes

[](https://avnfs.com/J96JTgTGrIPriD6BYD6tifTtwqeg_Pt5UzDDbNmvI88?size=649857&type=application%2Fpdf&name=Christians+Lost+Commas+Teacher+Notes+1.pdf)

# Download the Worksheet Answers

[](https://avnfs.com/WOb9-mqh1O2toHV3C9VyIE8qiYLRx0f00iwqmvx91aA?size=606567&type=application%2Fpdf&name=Christians+Lost+Commas+Teacher+Notes+2.pdf)

# Download the Worksheet

[](https://avnfs.com/5wjdwcqdrYO8J1PYaQ62KFh8cPX_rhFyho8ZwA6dpxY?size=78951&type=application%2Fpdf&name=Christians+Lost+Commas+Teacher+Notes+3.pdf)