1. Punctuation, the key to make your writings understandable! 15/09/2009

2. PUNCTUATION IS USED TO CREATE SENSE, CLARITY AND STRESS IN SENTENCES! You use punctuation marks to structure and organize your writing. The most common of these are period , comma, exclamation mark, question mark, quotation marks, colon,semi-colon, apostrophe, hyphen and dash, and parentheses and brackets. Capital letters are also used to help us organize meaning and to structure the sense of our writing.” 15/09/2009

3. ACTIVITIES Activity 1: Look for the meaning of each punctuation mark in your dictionary. Then draw the corresponding symbol for all of them. Use the chart below. 15/09/2009

4. Text 1. perhaps you do not always need to use commas periods colons etc to make sentences clear when i am in a hurry tired cold lazy or angry i sometimes leave out punctuation marks grammar is stupid i can write without it and don’t need it my uncle Harry once said he was not very clever and i never understood a word he wrote to me i think ill learn some punctuation not too much enough to write to Uncle Harry he needs some help. Text 2. Perhaps you don't always need to use commas, periods, colons etc. to make sentences clear. When I am in a hurry, tired, cold, lazy, or angry I sometimes leave out punctuation marks. "Grammar is stupid! I can write without it and don't need it." my uncle Harry once said. He was not very clever and I never understood a word he wrote to me. I think I'll learn some punctuation - not too much, enough to write to Uncle Harry. He needs some help! 15/09/2009 Activity 2: Read the following texts. Then make comments about the importance of punctuation and capitalization.

5. So, how you make your English clearer and better organized? __________________________________________________________________________________. 15/09/2009

6. Activity 3:Pay attention to the following presentations. You will need this information to solve some exercises. Note: Previous to this activity, the class was divided into eleven groups and each one was provided with punctuation marks’ information in order to prepare a presentation for the whole class. 15/09/2009

7. Activity 4: Based on the presentations about punctuation marks solve the exercises below. 1. Select the correctly punctuated sentence. a) The children's books were all left in the following places: Mrs Smith's room, Mr Powell's office and the caretaker's cupboard. b) The children's books were all left in the following places; Mrs Smith's room, Mr Powell's office and the caretaker's cupboard. c) The childrens books were all left in the following places: Mrs Smiths room, MrPowells office and the caretakers cupboard. d) The children's books were all left in the following places, Mrs Smith's room, Mr Powell's office and the caretaker's cupboard. 15/09/2009

8. 2.Insert the necessary punctuation marks and capitalize words where necessary. a) Tomas nearly bursting with joy showed his family through his gorgeous newly renovated home. b) Tom the owner of Skip's Septic Service said he would be here tomorrow however there's always a chance he won't be able to come especially if it rains. c) My oldest sister who lives in Minnesota is a nutritionist my youngest sister who lives in Tennessee is a college administrator. d) Jonh´swife Mireya has resigned from her position as Head Nurse. 15/09/2009

9. 3. Read the following love letters, which of these would you like to receive? Dear John,I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we’re apart. I can be forever happy – will you let me be yours?Juanita. Dear John,I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men, I yearn. For you I have no feelings whatsoever. When we’re apart, I can be forever happy. Will you let me be?Yours, Juanita. 15/09/2009

10. Answersheet Activity 1: 15/09/2009

12. EVALUATION OF TASKS IMPLEMENTATION Aspects that went well during the implementation: Students’ motivation: Students were highly motivated during the implementation of activities. They regarded the topic as important and useful for their academic and personal training. Materials: students liked the materials used to carry out the activities, specially the technological resources as the video bean and internet. For me, as a teacher, it was gratifying to see that much of the success of the activity was due to the proper selection of materials. 15/09/2009

13. Rapport: I really liked the way my students interacted each other. They were attentive to most of the presentations. They enjoyed doing the proposed activities to the extent that most of them wanted to be the first in finishing and show me their answers. Most of them also loved online-interaction. They realized it as an appealing and effective tool to keep practicing. Activities: students found these interesting, appealing and easy to solve. 15/09/2009

14. Aspects that didn´t go that well during the implementation: Students’priorknowledge: little knowledge of the topic made the activity longer than expected. It was like addressing the topic for the first time. Some students’presentations: some presentations were not striking at all due to the lack of knowledge about the topic, the little experience making presentations not only in English but also in Spanish. Internet (for online exercises): some activities had to be interrupted due to the lack of Internet. 15/09/2009

15. What I would do if I were to present the tasks again: I would check, in advance, the students’ prior knowledge about the topic to be treated. I would provide more advice to the students in order to ensure, to some extent, the success of the presentations. I would implement more tasks design projects since the beginning of the school year. I would involve as many teachers as possible in the tasks design project in order to improve these abilities, not only in the English class, but in other subjects as well. 15/09/2009

16. References http://3snakesand1cat.blogspot.com/2008/02/punctuation-is-used-to-create-sense.html http://www.bristol.ac.uk/arts/exercises/grammar/grammar_tutorial/page_55.htm http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/quizzes/punct3_quiz.htm http://www.hot.ee/kat3z/hotPot/Punctuation_rap.htm Diccionario Oxford Pocket Para estudiantes de ingles. Español-Inglés Ingles-Español. Terceraedicion. 15/09/2009