Distinguish the dash (interruption/emphasis) from the colon (set-up-and-deliver) (CCSS L.8.2.a deeper)
Exercise
Difficulty 2
~7 min
eng.g8.s.ex_11
Dash Or Colon Choice
Prompt
Choose dash, colon, or neither for each blank. Justify in 1 phrase. (1) 'The capstone has one rule ___ sustain register.' (2) 'The research ___ careful and slow ___ shifted my thinking.' (3) 'Adichie's argument is clear ___ and devastating.' (4) 'Three sources ___ Adichie, Coates, and Klein ___ ground my synthesis.' (5) 'The conclusion ___ a call to action.'
M-8-S-EX-11-A
Interactive
Physical / non-image
5-sentence dash/colon choice worksheet with rationale slot per sentence. Print-ready 8.5x11.
Answer criteria
type
classification
correct
- colon
- paired-dashes
- single-dash
- paired-dashes-or-commas
- colon
Hints
- Colon: setup-and-deliver (elaboration / definition / list).
- Dash: interruption or emphasis.
Misconceptions to watch
- Overuses dash for any pause.
- Confuses dash with hyphen typographically.
Used in lessons