Worksheet

Whistles at the Rec Center: Punctuation in a Play

Grade 4 punctuation-for-effect worksheet: read a short play set at a recreation center and choose marks that show alarm, calm, suspense and doubt.

Grade 4ELAInteractive · Printable

Aligned toL.4.3.b

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What’s included

Single worksheet
Auto-graded online
1 Common Core standard
Printable answer key
10 questions
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Details

Format: Interactive · Printable
Grade: Grade 4
Subject: ELA
Question types: Fill in the blank, Multiple choice, Circle the answer, Sorting, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

Students explain how punctuation in a play shows how characters speak.
Students choose punctuation that makes a line sound calm, excited, unsure or suspenseful.

How to use

Have three students read the play aloud, using the voice each punctuation mark calls for, then let everyone answer the questions on their own.

Curriculum

Common Core standard covered

L.4.3.b

Choose punctuation for effect.

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Whistles at the Rec Center: Punctuation in a Play

Read a short play about a basketball referee and her helpers, then choose punctuation for effect.

Read the play

Game Day at Elm Park

1Setting: The gym at the Elm Park Recreation Center on a Saturday morning. Two youth basketball teams, the Hawks and the Comets, are warming up, and parents are finding seats on the bleachers. Ms. Adeyemi, the referee, is showing her two helpers, Jun and Bella, the scorer's table.

2MS. ADEYEMI: Thank you both for helping today. Jun, you will run the scoreboard. Bella, you will watch the game clock and tell me when time runs out.

3JUN: What happens if I push the wrong button?

4MS. ADEYEMI: Then you fix it. Everyone makes mistakes, even referees. Just take a breath and keep your eyes on the game.

5BELLA: (pointing at the floor near the door) Wait—is that a puddle?

6MS. ADEYEMI: (blowing her whistle) Stop! Nobody runs near that corner. Bella, please bring me the mop from the closet.

7COACH RAMOS: Good eyes, Bella. Someone could have slipped on that water. Thank you for speaking up so quickly.

8(Later in the game. The crowd is loud, the score is tied, and only ten seconds are left on the clock.)

9JUN: (counting under his breath) Ten... nine... eight...

10BELLA: (covering her eyes) I can't look. Did the ball go in?

11JUN: (jumping up) It's in! The Hawks win!

12MS. ADEYEMI: (in a steady voice) The final score is 24 to 22. Both teams, please line up and shake hands.

13BELLA: My hands were shaking the whole time. How do you stay so calm when a game is that close?

14MS. ADEYEMI: (smiling) A good referee keeps her voice steady... even when her heart is racing.

Punctuation in the play

Use the play to answer each question.

In paragraph 5, Bella says, "Wait—is that a puddle?" What does the dash (—) show?

A. Bella is reading the rules out loud to Jun.
B. Bella stops short because she spots something.
C. Bella is calmly telling a fact about the gym.
D. Bella has finished her job for the whole day.

Read paragraph 6 again. Underline the sentence whose punctuation shows a sharp, loud command.

Stop!Nobody runs near that corner.Bella, please bring me the mop from the closet.

In paragraph 9, Jun says, "Ten... nine... eight..." What do the ellipses (...) show?

A. Jun is shouting the numbers to the crowd.
B. Jun is asking Bella what time it is.
C. Jun has forgotten which number comes next.
D. The last seconds tick by one at a time.

Jun's lines in paragraph 11 end with exclamation marks. Ms. Adeyemi's lines in paragraph 12 end with periods. What does this show?

A. Jun is excited, and Ms. Adeyemi is calm.
B. Jun is asking, and Ms. Adeyemi is answering.
C. Jun is whispering, and Ms. Adeyemi is yelling.
D. Jun is unsure, and Ms. Adeyemi is upset.

In paragraph 14, why does the writer put an ellipsis (...) before the words "even when her heart is racing"?

A. To show that Ms. Adeyemi is asking Bella a question
B. To show that Jun cuts in before she can finish
C. To add a short pause before a surprising truth
D. To show that she is shouting over the crowd

Choose punctuation for effect

Think about how each line should sound. Then choose the punctuation that gives it that effect.

Choose the mark from the word bank that fits the description in brackets. Write the mark in the blank.

Word bank: . · ! · ?

(Bella cheers loudly) Great pass, Comets
(Ms. Adeyemi calmly explains a rule) Each team gets two time-outs
(Coach Ramos wants to know the score) What is the score now

Sort the lines by how the punctuation makes the speaker sound.

Practice starts at four o'clock.Well... maybe I could try.Watch out for the ball!Please put the cones in the closet.We won the trophy!I think the score is... um, twelve.

Excited or alarmed	Calm	Unsure or hesitating

Coach Ramos is thrilled when a player makes a great shot. Which line shows his excitement best?

A. What a shot.
B. What a shot?
C. What a shot...
D. What a shot!

Jun is writing about the game for the rec center newsletter. He wants readers to feel the suspense of the last shot. Which sentence does this best?

A. The ball rolled around the rim and dropped in.
B. The ball rolled around the rim... and dropped in!
C. Did the ball roll around the rim and drop in?
D. The ball rolled around the rim, and it dropped in.

10.

Write one line Ms. Adeyemi might say to warn the players about something in the gym. Use punctuation that makes it sound like a warning. Then tell which mark you used and why.