5th Grade Grammar

Sample Lesson - Introduction

Lesson 1.05: Take A Leaf From Spy Panda's Book: Punctuation Matters

Spy Panda now knows what's up. So should you.
(Source)

Ever heard of a spy panda? Or rather, The Spy Panda?

She might sound familiar because she's a cousin of, you guessed it, Kung-Fu Panda. Yeah, this guy. You see, Spy Panda is high up in our Shmoop Spy Headquarters ranking because she's been putting E.V.I.L.'s attempts to destroy grammar rules to shame for years. But Spy Panda wasn't always a super-sleuthing grammar heroine. When she was just a panda training to be a spy, she actually started out being really confused by commas.

We'll explain. Back when she was starting out, she liked to go to her favorite restaurant right after training. She'd take a seat and order her favorite Eucalyptus salad. Then, after eating her meal, she'd take out her Spy Stun Gun, shoot the waiter, and then leave the restaurant. Stunned, the waiter would pass out for thirty minutes and then wake up.

Not ideal.

The waiter found this particularly annoying because he had a bunch of other customers to help. He put up with it because she was a good customer and a spy-in-training. But then the same thing happened the next day and the next day. Finally, he'd had enough.

The next time she came in, the waiter said, "Hold up, hold up. Why do you keep coming in here, ordering food, eating it, shooting me, and then leaving?"

She looked at him, confused. "Because that's what pandas do. Don't believe me? Look up 'panda' in the dictionary. There it'll say: eats, shoots, and leaves."

Now she wasn't entirely wrong and she wasn't entirely right either. You see, her dictionary actually says "panda: eats shoots and leaves"—no commas. Young Spy Panda had made the mistake of not paying close enough attention to punctuation. With commas, it seems like she should eat something, shoot something, and then leave that place. Without commas, it says that pandas eat plants.

Oops. So much for animal instincts, right?

But the story ends well. Spy Panda has a quadruple black belt in the niceties of the English language, and she uses punctuation to fight for clarity, readability, and voice.

Let her be your model. Your punctuational inspiration. If you have to don a panda suit to get into the spirit, then by all means, spy—don that panda suit.

Sample Lesson - Reading

Reading 1.1.05: Punctuation Matters

Capitalize On Your Strengths

Now that we've established Spy Panda is awesome, and punctuation matters, let's roll up our sleeves (remember that idiom?) and get to work on learning some rules.

First thing's first: when you start a sentence, you must capitalize the word at the beginning of that sentence.

For example, we know something is wrong here:

spy panda is impossible to beat. She trained hard to get where she is today.
  
Those two sentences should be:  
  
Spy Panda is impossible to beat. She trained hard to get where she is today.

That's rule number one! Capitalize the first letter of the first word of a sentence.

That correction actually brings up an interesting side note. See how "Panda" is also capitalized? That's because it's her name. Rule number two: you should also always capitalize proper nouns or names.

"Comma-gain?" I Didn't Hear You

Get it, get it? Like, Come again? "Comma-gain!"

What? You don't think that's funny?

Well, groan all you want, Shmooper. You're never going to convince us that comma puns aren't the funniest jokes around. Why? Because commas rule.

Remember what brought us here in the first place? Spy Panda's little mishap with commas. Think about how she put them into the sentence from the dictionary: "eats, shoots, and leaves."

She used commas to make a list of three things, in this case verbs, and put the commas in between each of those things. We could technically leave off the last comma, which is called an Oxford comma because it's as proper as crumpets and tea. Or shall we say, "crumpets, tea, and your well-loved copy of The Collected Works of William Shakespeare?"

The Oxford comma lets your reader know that you're writing a list, which eliminates awkward misunderstandings. Consider this example:

"I was just at the park, where I ran into the usual dogs, your girlfriend and your sister."

As it is—that is, without the Oxford comma—the above sentence could mean that you're referring to your friend's girlfriend and sister as "the usual dogs."

Er. Awkward.

Let's go back in time to see what we should have written. (Elbow nudge—notice that use of the modal verb and past participle there? should have written…)What should we have written? What do we have in our tool kit to eliminate the sentence's double-meaning, or ambiguity?

Exactly. The Oxford comma. You're nailing this grammar thing, spy-kid.

Re-do: "I was just at the park, where I ran into the usual dogs, your girlfriend, and your sister."

Commas, Like Bullet-points within Your Sentences!

With commas, we can make a list of nouns, adverbs, adjectives, prepositions, verbs, our even multi-word clauses. (See what we created in that gorgeous sentence you just read? Yes! A list of nouns separated by commas!)

Check it out what commas and lists can do:

• Spy Panda, Shmoop, and our lab techs are all fighting against E.V.I.L.
• E.V.I.L. works secretly, furtively, and often in the cover of night.
• Beware! Their agents are cunning, underhanded, and dangerous.
• We need to shimmy up, through, and out of the secret passageway.

You get the idea: use commas to separate items in a list.

Separating Out Parts of Your Sentences

Commas separate, or isolate, parts of sentences. This allows the reader to understand how your sentence works.

Here's another trip down memory lane: interjections. Interjections are thrown into the middle or at the beginning of sentences, and they're always offset by punctuation. We've talked about using commas, exclamation points, periods, and question marks to separate the interjection from the rest of the sentence.

Turns out interjections are really similar to the way introductory parts work in a sentence. What's an introductory part? Here are some examples:

• At first, Spy Panda had no clue how to use commas.
• After Comma Training, Spy Panda could use commas like a pro.
• In the end, she is ready to take on even the toughest grammar foes.

See how we put a comma after "at first," "after," and "in the end"? That's because they are introducing the sentence or an idea, or telling the reader that there's a transition happening here. That brings us to rule number four: use a comma after most introductory or transition words.

We should use the same format when we're answering questions. Here's a snippet from an interview that Gumshoe Magazine had with Spy Panda.

Q: "Did you always know you wanted to be a spy?"
  
A: "Yes, I did. Ever since I was a cub, I'd wander deep into the bamboo forest and dream about putting my hide-and-seek skills to the test. Of course, I wanted to help the world at the same time."  
  
Q: "That's great! Let's talk about your first mission. Were you afraid to invade E.V.I.L.'s Headquarters?"  
   
A: "No, I actually wasn't. I'd been training for years at that point. Plus, I had a great team to count on."

See how Spy Panda puts a comma after she says "yes" and "no?" That's exactly how we should do it. That's rule number five! Use a comma after "yes" or "no" when answering questions.

We should also use a comma to set off a question from the rest of the sentence.

Q: Despite not being afraid, your first mission was tough, wasn't it?

See how the last clause—"wasn't it?"—is a question and the rest of the sentence is not? In order to make this be okay by the Book of Grammar, we need to put a comma before it. The comma is like a binder tab that separates two different sections of your sentence.

What? You want more ways to use commas? Well, okay—if you insist. We use a comma to show that we are directly addressing someone. We can put someone's or something's name at the end of a sentence:

A: Thanks for asking that, Gumshoe Magazine.
  
Or, we can put it at the beginning of a sentence:
  
Q: Spy Panda, do you have any advice for would-be spies?  
  
Either way, there is a comma separating the name or addressee from the rest of the sentence.

Punctuation In A Pinch

There you have it: the low-down on punctuation. Sometimes it's hard to remember all these rules, so Spy Panda's developed a quick reminder sheet. She likes to carry around a tiny, laminated copy of it wherever she goes. See? Even the experts need a little help sometimes. Here they are:

1. Capitalize the first letter of the first word of a sentence.
2. Capitalize names and proper nouns.
3. Use commas to separate items in a list.
4. Use a comma after most introductory or transition words.
5. Use a comma after "yes" or "no" when answering questions.
6. Use a comma to separate a question from the rest of the sentence.
7. Use a comma to show that you are directly addressing someone.

Just in case you didn't already, write those things down! You'll need them in the next activity.

Sample Lesson - Activity

Activity 1.05a: Catch That Mistake!

Whip out those punctuation rules, Shmooper, because it's time to use 'em.

In fact, we're giving you the same training that we gave Spy Panda back in the day. Read each of the following sentences and say whether you think there is a mistake or not. If you find a mistake, fix it in your answer. For example, if we Shmooped you the sentence

"We Spies love bulldogs, Tea and cake,"

you'd then write,

There is a mistake. There's no Oxford comma between "tea" and "and," and "tea" shouldn't be capitalized.

Some sentences might have more than one error. In that case, you must catch them all! We must stop at nothing to fight for clear, correct sentences.

Sample Lesson - Activity

Activity 1.05b: Just What Are You Trying To Say Here?

Sample Lesson - Activity