New
New
Year 5
Parenthesis: dashes
I can use dashes to cause a dramatic effect for the reader.
New
New
Year 5
Parenthesis: dashes
I can use dashes to cause a dramatic effect for the reader.
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Lesson details
Key learning points
- Parenthesis can be achieved with a range of punctuation.
- Dashes are a punctuation mark used to add extra information in a clause often for dramatic effect.
- Dashes are often written in a pair.
- Dashes can be removed from a clause and it will still make sense.
- Dashes can be used purposefully in fiction texts to cause a dramatic effect for the reader.
Keywords
Parenthesis - additional information that is added to a sentence; if it is removed, the sentence still makes sense
Dashes - a punctuation mark to add extra information in a clause often for dramatic effect
Dramatic effect - using writing to create an emotion or effect for the reader
Common misconception
Pupils may struggle to identify where to add parenthesis in a sentence.
It is easiest to add parenthesis after nouns or verbs - encourage children to identify these if needed.
There are various ways of adding parenthesis (extra information) to a sentence. Here, we focus on using dashes in fiction writing for dramatic effect (as opposed to brackets, which we used in non-fiction writing for extra factual information).
Teacher tip
Licence
This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on
Open Government Licence version 3.0
except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).Lesson video
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Starter quiz
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6 Questions
Q1.
Which of these texts are likely to be fiction?
a reference book
a diary
Q2.
Tick the sentences that contain parenthesis.
Leeds is known for its famous football team.
Plymouth is a city on the south coast of England and has 250,000 residents.
Q3.
Which section of this sentence could be a piece of parenthesis in brackets? 'World War II 1939-1945 resulted in the deaths of millions of people.'
World War II
World War II resulted in the deaths of millions of people
Q4.
Which section of this sentence should be a piece of parenthesis in brackets? 'Spain a country in southern Europe produces lots of sausages.'
Spain produces lots of sausages
produces lots of sausages
Q5.
Which version combines these two sentences correctly using parenthesis in brackets? 'K2 is the world's second-highest mountain. It is 8,611m tall.'
K2 (is 8,611m tall) and is the world's second-highest mountain.
K2 (is the world's second-highest mountain) is 8,611m tall.
Q6.
Tick all the pieces of parenthesis that could be placed inside this sentence: 'China has 1.4 billion people.'
is a country in Asia
which has 1.4 billion people
Exit quiz
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6 Questions
Q1.
What is the purpose of adding parenthesis using dashes in a piece of fiction writing?
to add extra factual information
to describe nouns
Q2.
Which of these sentences uses dashes correctly to add parenthesis?
The lion – pounced fast as lightning – and grabbed its prey.
The lion pounced fast – as lightning – and grabbed its prey.
Q3.
Which words in this sentence should be placed between dashes to show parenthesis? 'An echo loud and deep rang through the darkness.'
an echo rang through the darkness
an echo
rang through the darkness
Q4.
Which words in this sentence should be placed between dashes to show parenthesis? 'The desert as dry as dust stretched for miles in all directions.'
the desert stretched for miles in all directions
the desert as dry as dust
Q5.
Which of these sentences creates the most intense effect of fear for the reader?
A roar blasted through the trees.
A loud roar blasted through the trees.
Q6.
Which of these pieces of parenthesis could be added to this sentence to create an effect of sadness? 'The toy was left on the shelf for years.'
neat and tidy
my favourite