MINI-LESSON TEMPLATE (DEDUCTIVE)

(adapted from Catching Up on Conventions, Francois & Zonana, 2009)

Language Concept You’re Focusing On: Correct usage of semicolons in

connecting related Independent clauses and naming items in a list.

What to remember about semicolons:

1. Semicolons are not interchangeable with commas or periods. Instead, they’re

somewhere in between: stronger than a comma but as final as a period
(Grammarly).
2. Semicolons can be used to connect two (separate but related) sentences or
replace a conjunction in a sentence with two independent clauses.
3. Semicolons can be used to link items in a list, such as objects, locations, names and
descriptions. Where the list items already contain commas, a semicolon helps avoid
confusion between the items. (University of Adelaide)

Example sentences where this concept is appropriately applied:

● Maggie is at soccer practice; Andrew is at a movie.
● Emily is very smart; she’s been in advanced English reading since she was
eight.
● I had a cheeseburger for lunch today; life is too short not to eat food you like.

Sentences for Practice:

1. I have never been out of the country. I don’t like long flights.
2. Some people like to write on their laptops and some people prefer to write by
hand.
3. Michaela was keen to travel to as many European countries and their cities as
possible and her itinerary included France, Paris; Austria, Vienna; Italy, Rome; and
Germany, Berlin.
COMMON CORE LANGUAGE STANDARD THAT THIS LESSON ADDRESSES:

Tenth grade standard: (CCSS: L.9-10.2a)

Students can: 2. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization,

punctuation, and spelling when writing.
 Use a semicolon (and perhaps a conjunctive adverb) to link two or more closely
related independent clauses.