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Thursday, March 15, 2018

Real Authors Use Semicolons #sol18

Join Two Writing Teachers and other teacher-writers as we share a slice of life every single day in the month of March.

This week we have been learning about and using semicolons in our writing.

One student asked, "Do real authors use these?"

"Absolutely!"

"I don't remember seeing semicolons in any book I have ever read," said another student.

"It's because you haven't noticed them; you weren't looking for them.  I bet if you look now, you will find them."

And the chase was on to see who could find one first.  Throughout the room I heard, "Oh, I found one. Here's one. Have you found one yet?"

Finally, they conceded, "I guess you were right, Mrs. Eck. Real authors do use semicolons."

Next up are colons, and I thought this one might take a little more convincing.  Until I found this graphic after school:


What do you think?

12 comments:

  1. Wow, Mrs. Eck, you were right! Imagine that! That’s so funny.

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  2. Discovery comes in so many flavors. Now they won't be able to "unsee" all semi colons they happen to run into in the reading and writing travels.

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  3. Funny how the students might think that you really make things up for the sake of teaching, and then discover that you were telling the truth all along.

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    1. One more thing: "I guess you were right" might make a good title for a book.

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    2. Love the name for a title!

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  4. Such a great moment to catch! And you used a semi-colon in your writing!

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  5. Now that is a graphic that tells us about this new generation.

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  6. I love the comment about how real authors use semicolons! :) that made me giggle

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  7. What a sweet post. I love those moments of discovery! I also think that graphic might be an interesting pre- and post- conversation to have when you're learning about colons!

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  8. Oh the colon! I can't wait to hear what your kids think of this. I hope that some authors share with you how they use the semicolon. I love hearing about these moments of discovery.

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  9. Oh the semicolon. I'm forever wrestling with its proper use and placement.

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