New
New
Year 7
Using dashes, colons, and commas for effect in descriptive writing
I can use punctuation accurately and explain its effect.
New
New
Year 7
Using dashes, colons, and commas for effect in descriptive writing
I can use punctuation accurately and explain its effect.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Switch to our new teaching resources now - designed by teachers and leading subject experts, and tested in classrooms.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- A dash can be used to indicate a pause, added emphasis, an interruption, or an abrupt change of thought.
- Dashes can be used to replace brackets or colons.
- Commas are used to separate words, clauses or ideas within a sentence.
- Colons can be used to connect main clauses, add emphasis to a word or phrase, or introduce an explanation.
- Colons can also be used to introduce lists.
Keywords
Effect - A noun used to denote a consequence, an outcome, a result, or an influence.
Tone - The general mood or feeling of a text.
Accurate - To be correct, exact and without any mistakes.
Punctuation - The marks, such as full-stops and commas, used in writing to separate sentences and their elements and to clarify meaning.
Common misconception
That looking at punctuation is very dry and has no impact on the way you see a text or a character.
The way that writers use and play with punctuation can have a profound impact on the way we view a text or character's emotions.
You could ask the students to peer-assess their descriptive writing for Task A to allow them to see how other people may have used the same punctuation to give a different effect.
Teacher tip
Licence
This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on
Open Government Licence version 3.0
except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).Lesson video
Loading...
Starter quiz
Download starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.
Punctuation is .
where you edit and refine your work
the rules about how words change their form and combine with other words
Q2.
Which of the following would you use at the end of a sentence?
a comma
a colon
a semi-colon
Q3.
An exclamation mark is used to show .
angry emotions only
sad emotions only
Q4.
In a complex sentence, if you have a subordinate clause in the middle then .
you use a comma before the subordinate clause
you use a comma after the subordinate clause
Q5.
Which of the following is a correctly punctuated compound sentence?
Alice tried to pour herself some tea but there was a mouse in the teapot.
Alice tried to pour herself some tea but, there was a mouse in the teapot.
Q6.
Match the position of a subordinate clause in a sentence with the correct punctuation.
Comma after the subordinate clause
Commas around the subordinate clause
No comma
Exit quiz
Download exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.
Creating accurate work means .
creating work with many mistakes
creating work with some mistakes
Q2.
Which piece of punctuation should you use before a coordinating conjunction in a compound sentence?
a full-stop
an exclamation mark
Q3.
To have an effect means .
to have a change of heart
to create feelings of sadness
Q4.
Which piece of punctuation is often used to indicate either a pause, added emphasis, an interruption, or an abrupt change of thought?
a semi-colon
a full-stop
Q5.
In a compound sentence, the comma goes .
around the coordianting conjunction
after the coordinating conjunction
Q6.
In Carroll's 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland', he uses a dash after 'I think' multiple times in Alice's speech about falling down the rabbit hole. This could indicate...
confidence
surety
Additional material
Download additional material