Attention, parents! If there is one thing, just ONE thing you could reinforce with your child at home, it has got to be capitalizing the first word in a sentence and putting a period at the end. I assume, all of you know why punctuating the written word is important. However, my students do not. I read through their work everyday and still....STILL...at 13 years old, we are still not routinely using capital letters, and correct ending punctuation. It sort of blows me away.
Today, I taught how one would appropriately use a semicolon. Yes, I'm admitting it here and now, I taught something today that is not explicitly outlined in the Common Core State Standards. Call me a rebel. Actually, call me confused. I constantly feel confused. I'm lost in a world where on the one hand I see all of these lofty Common Core goals, and on the other hand, I see the students sitting before me, and I know that until I teach some "core" essentials in writing, we cannot move on to bigger and better things. Hence, the lesson on semicolons. We have been working on simple sentences (independent clauses), as well as compound sentences. By the way, just uttering the mere phrases 'independent clause' and 'compound sentence,' sends them into orbit. You would literally think I was speaking French to them. The thing is, I know, KNOW they have been taught this stuff before. This truth revealed itself to me during my lesson today.
As I launched in on the job of the semicolon, I heard giggling and whispers behind me. "Good Lord, what now?" I was thinking. I turned around and innocently, and politely, asked what was so funny about the semicolon? More giggling ensued. Seriously? Finally, a brave soul volunteered on behalf of the class, "Semicolons....you know...they're a sexy beast!" Huh. Well, I was not expecting that. (I feel like I'm going to say that a lot this year.) Unable to see the relation, I asked them to explain where they got the idea that semicolons were a sexy beast. They simply responded, "Mrs. Fine's class." Yup, sounds totally normal. (says sarcastic inner-monologue) Now, you have to know Mrs. Fine to truly appreciate this story, but I guess I just never really pictured her teaching semicolons to the likeness of a "sexy beast." I had to get to the bottom of this. Right away, I emailed her.
"Hey Liz, quick question...I was just reviewing semicolon usage with my students and the kids were quite excited about the "SEXY BEAST SEMICOLON!" They referred me to you. I'm oh-so-curious..."
Not too much longer she replied to my message.
"Ahhh the semi-colon! Classiest punctuation mark in our language, Judy. If used correctly, it can make anyone's writing incredibly sexy! Don't you agree???"
Have I mentioned, yet, how much I love the people I work with? Why, yes, I do agree with Mrs. Fine! However, I am clearly a little jealous that she came up with this clever bit before I did. I will say she's had a 'few' more years of practice than I have. I count myself incredibly fortunate to be able to learn from her talents, wit, and teaching tips.
So, if you learn but one thing today, let it be this: semicolons ARE sexy!
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