• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Colons and dashes before an explanation or list (SAT); Essential or non-essential? Commas with appositives and clauses). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. Is this sentence correct in formal written English? (Ana has one grandmother.) Ana's grandmother who is ninety still swims every day. (correct / incorrect) → incorrectPrompt: Remove the words. Do we still know exactly who or what is meant?
2. What punctuation (if any) belongs at [?] The answer was simple [?] practise every day. (: / , / no punctuation) → :Prompt: Is everything BEFORE [?] a complete sentence? If not, don't use a colon.
3. In which sentence does [?] need this: ,? (The answer was simple [?] practise every day. / The scientist — who had worked on the project for a decade [?] finally published her results. / The scientist, who had worked on the project for a decade [?] finally published her results.) → The scientist, who had worked on the project for a decade [?] finally published her results.Prompt: Is everything BEFORE [?] a complete sentence? If not, don't use a colon.

• Read a short passage with no punctuation and let the class hear why it's confusing.
• Share the objective: Matching pairs: comma–comma, dash–dash, bracket–bracket (SAT). Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: Which punctuation mark belongs at [?] Lagos, Nigeria's largest city [?] is one of the fastest-growing cities in the world.
• Step 1: Interruptions come in matching pairs: two commas, two dashes, or two brackets — never a mix.
• Step 2: Close the appositive with a comma.
• Step 3: So the answer is: ,
• Answer: ,
• Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

• Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
• Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.

1. Which punctuation mark belongs at [?] The museum's newest exhibit, a full-size model of a blue whale [?] attracts thousands of visitors. (, / — / ; / no punctuation) → ,Prompt: Find where the extra information STARTS. What mark opened it?
2. In which sentence does [?] need this mark: —? (The museum's newest exhibit — a full-size model of a blue whale [?] attracts thousands of visitors. / The museum's newest exhibit, a full-size model of a blue whale [?] attracts thousands of visitors. / The author (who wrote her first novel at seventeen [?] now teaches creative writing.) → The museum's newest exhibit — a full-size model of a blue whale [?] attracts thousands of visitors.Prompt: Find where the extra information STARTS. What mark opened it?

• Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
• Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

• Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.

1. In which sentence does [?] need this mark: )? (The volcano's last eruption (in 1913 [?] destroyed three villages. / The final match — played in pouring rain [?] ended in a draw. / Marie Curie, the first person to win two Nobel Prizes [?] studied radioactivity.) → The volcano's last eruption (in 1913 [?] destroyed three villages.Prompt: Find where the extra information STARTS. What mark opened it?
2. Which punctuation mark belongs at [?] The volcano's last eruption (in 1913 [?] destroyed three villages. (, / — / ) / ;) → )Prompt: Find where the extra information STARTS. What mark opened it?

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/english/grade-10.