Topic/Theme Statement

In this unit, we would be covering the Grammar Unit, with emphasis on Punctuation
Marks. The unit will start with End Marks, and then will move to Commas and Semicolons.
It is important for the students to learn how the meaning can be changed with a simple change of
an end mark at the end of a sentence. After learning the proper mark to put at the end of certain
sentences to create the needed emphasis, we will then move to semicolons and commas. We will
then go over the two important pieces of punctuation marks, and see how they can join sentences
together to create better flow; for commas, there is also the additional information that can be
added with the help of adding them in the right place. Students will also see how a sentence may
be misconstrued if a comma is put in a wrong place; a sentence, which originally meant one
thing at first, now has a different meaning and connotation.
This will be helpful to them now, and would continue to help the students later in life.
With the clear understanding of punctuation marks, there would be less confusion and better
communication with other people. This will help their communication skills overall, which
would be a necessary tool throughout their lives, from the present to their future adult selves. As
we go through this unit, we may also go through certain memorable speeches given and see what
punctuation is contained in the passage (in this unit, we will be going over some of Obamas
speeches, for example), what pauses are made, in order to emphasize on some points, make other
points more impactful.
On learning punctuation, it would also be immediately helpful to their future classes, not
just limited to English. Learning the correct grammar and punctuation, plus how to use it to
influence and emphasize, would help their future papers flow more smoothly and be helpful
when writing down speeches. For instance, learning this can help them write better lab reports

for science, on helping them make them clearer, or writing effective powerful speeches, with
purposeful pauses for debates and arguing points in history, etc.
With these skills they have acquired, I hope that they would, as well as writing better, be
reading content more in-depth to see how effective an author portrays their thoughts and be more
interested in the reading they do, as hoped with Brown in her article, Joyful Reading is Our Goal.
With this unit and practice, it will help create a sense of clarity and purposefulness in their
writing, knowing how to write to get their point across and their voices heard.

Works Cited

Brown, M. (2016, September). Under Discussion: Teaching Speaking and

Listening. Joyful Reading Is Our Goal, 106(1), 76-79. Retrieved November 8,
2016,
from http://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Journals/EJ/1061_sep20
16/EJ1061Discussion.pdf

Obama Inaugural Address 20th January 2009. Retrieved November 25, 2016,
from The complete text transcripts of over 100 Barack Obama
speeches, http://obamaspeeches.com/