Name
Study Guide Daily Oral Language Test
 Underline titles of books/novels, titles of magazines, epic/super long
poems.
 Use “quotes,” for poems, titles of songs, short stories, titles of articles
within magazines, dialogue.
 “I love to hike, and ride my bike,” said Mrs. Kasper.
 Commas: use them with a list soup, crackers, potato salad,
 after city, and state, Oxford, Michigan,
 after a poem,
 after the titles of books/novels,
 at the beginning and the end of an appositive within a sentence. Example:
Diamond, a girl in my class, has very shinny hair. Example: We are reading
Maniac Magee, a story of a boy, in class. Think: the sentence reads just
fine without the appositive.
 When comparing all things use est (superlative form of the word) Example:
These are the largest of the cookies in the box.
 When comparing two things use er (comparative form of a word) He is the
taller of the two boys.
 Always set off a parenthetical phrase with commas. Example: We worked
hard all day, however, the job did not get finished.
 Always use “quotes,” when writing dialogue. Example: “What is the last
day of school?” asked Kallan.
 Use capital whenever you write proper nouns. Example: North Oxford
Road
 Place a comma between city and state Oxford, MI, is the town and state I
live in.
 Use its when ownership is shown. Example: The tiger licked its paw. Check
by saying the words it is. If it sounds incorrect you know it could not be it’s.
 Know the theirs, there, they’re: Go over there and sit down. Their dog is
cute. They’re having a party.
 Remember to place a comma after an introductory word: No, we will not
be going to the media center.
 Place a comma before and after a parenthetical phrase: Mrs. Kasper, our
Social Studies teacher, is very nice.
 Place a comma after a prepositional phrase: Because there was lightning,
the game was called off.
 Periods and commas used at the ends of quotations are always placed
inside the quotation marks: Mrs. Dolsen said, “Please turn in your papers.”
 “I had a busy day,” answered Jason.
 Compass directions are capitalized when they refer to specific sections of
the country: We will be traveling to the West for spring break.
 Grandma, Mom, Dad, are capitalized when they take the place of a name.
 We are going to Grandma’s house.
 Use a semi colon with related clauses. Example: The frog was very active;
he looked like he could bounce out the window.
 Era designations are lower case Example: nineteenth century, first
century, eighteenth century
 Use a colon when introducing a list or series, often used when following a
phrase like the following: example I will bring these items to the party:
napkins, paper plates, cups, and silverware.
 Know contractions let’s, couldn’t, wouldn’t , can’t, we’ll
 Use a semi colon ; when joining 2 independent clauses example
The student was late to class; however, he did not get a tardy slip.
 Use the word well not good when giving someone a complement example
“You have cleaned your room well,” said Mom.
 Use the word lay when talking about an inanimate object example
“Lay your books on the desk,” said Mrs. Dolsen
 Use the word lie when talking about a living things example
Peaches go lie down.