Semi-Colons, Colons and Dashes Check

Year 6 EnglishSPaG3 pages

About this worksheet

Ten questions on semi-colons, colons and dashes, with bullet points at the end, make up this three-page Year 6 punctuation check. Pupils match each mark to its name and pick the correct colon and semi-colon sentences from three options each. They fill four gaps, such as "London is a very busy city _____ it is packed with tourists". Two comma splices need fixing, one with a semi-colon and one with a dash. The last task turns a potion recipe into a bulleted list. It matches England National Curriculum punctuation objectives.

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Curriculum objectives covered

Writing - vocabulary, grammar and punctuation

โ€œUsing semi-colons, colons or dashes to mark boundaries between independent clausesโ€

Questions 3, 4 and 6 to 9 all mark a boundary between two clauses.

Writing - vocabulary, grammar and punctuation

โ€œUsing a colon to introduce a listโ€

Questions 2, 5 and 10 each put a colon before a list.

Writing - vocabulary, grammar and punctuation

โ€œPunctuating bullet points consistentlyโ€

Question 10 asks for bullet points punctuated the same way from the first to the last.

What's inside this worksheet

Section 1: Spot the Punctuation

A match-up of dash, colon and semi-colon, plus two tick-box questions. One asks which of three list sentences, including one about baking a cake, uses a colon correctly.

Section 2: Fill the Gap

Four sentences, about bad weather, a camping trip, an Olympic gold medal and London, each missing a colon, semi-colon or dash.

Section 3: Fix the Comma Splice

Pupils fix the dog barking at the postman with a semi-colon and the spaceship landing on red dust with a dash.

Section 4: Bullet Points

Pupils turn dragon scales, moon dust and unicorn hair into a bulleted list introduced by a colon.

How teachers use it

End of unit check

Set it after you have taught all three marks to see which one pupils still confuse.

Comma splice clinic

Use Section 3 with the group whose writing runs clauses together with commas.

Marking together

The key accepts a semi-colon as well as a dash for question 6, so point that out when pupils mark their own.

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