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General
Students learn to recognize ellipses and understand what their usage is. They also learn how to use ellipses to indicate a pause, an unfinished thought, or to omit information when quoting a longer piece of text.
Standards
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.8.2a
Learning objective
Students will be able to use ellipses in their writing when quoting text.
Introduction
As a class, uncover the hidden punctuation mark. Have students discuss what they see. Do they know what it is or how to use it? Where have they seen it before? Then discuss as a class that it is called an ellipsis and that it shows a pause, omission of information, or an unfinished thought. Discuss with students that using an ellipsis is important because it replaces information that may be unnecessary or gives space in a sentence where it is needed. Furthermore, discuss that as they start to write research papers for school, they can use an ellipsis when writing quotes for their works.
Instruction
Discuss the three ways in which to use an ellipsis, namely as a pause, an unfinished thought, and to omit information. Give examples of all three demonstrating those actions. Then ask students to drag and drop the sentences to the type of usage the ellipsis shows. Next, ask students to determine if the ellipses are being used correctly. Move the covers to check their answers. Ask students to read the excerpt from The Tale of Peter Rabbit and answer the given questions. Repeat this with a second excerpt. Then ask students to compare and contrast two versions of John F. Kennedy's speech. Have students answer the given questions individually or in pairs.
Quiz
Students are first given a set of true or false questions to check understanding of key concepts given in the lesson. They are then given multiple-choice questions in which they must determine if an ellipsis has been used correctly, or to select which sentence has the correct ellipsis usage. They are also asked to determine what the function of an ellipsis is in a given sentence.
Closing
Restate the learning goal with your students and discuss the questions. Have students form pairs and have them read Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. They must use ellipses to remove parts of the speech, and then share how they edited the speech with the class.
Teaching tips
You may choose to create a collage/folder/object/video that has a collection of examples of written ellipsis usage (or in video form, when a character "uses" an ellipsis) to help students better contextualize ellipsis usage.
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About Gynzy
Gynzy is an online teaching platform for interactive whiteboards and displays in schools.
With a focus on elementary education, Gynzy’s Whiteboard, digital tools, and activities make it easy for teachers to save time building lessons, increase student engagement, and make classroom management more efficient.