Commas and Quotations

First, let's watch this video and see what you notice:
Did you notice the commas and quotations marks?
There are rules for using quotation marks.

1. Begin quotations with a capital letter.
 
2. If the quote comes before the person who spoke and tells something, place a comma after the quote, before the closing quotation mark.

Example: "The world is a very big place with seven continents and four oceans," the teacher told the class.     

3. If the quote comes after the person who spoke and tells something, place the comma after the person who spoke, before the opening quotation mark.

  Example: Chad explained, "We live on the continent of North America."

4. If the quote comes before the person who spoke and asks something, place the question mark after the quote, before the closing quotation mark.

Example: "Is North America a large continent?" Jane asked.

5. If the quote comes after the person who spoke and asks something, place the question mark after the quote, before the closing quotation mark.

Example: Mr. Pantane responded, "Why don't you look it up?"

6. If the quote comes before the person who spoke and shows strong emotion, place the exclamation mark after the quote, before the closing quotation mark. 

 Example: "I know, I know!" James exclaimed.

7. If the quote comes after the person who spoke and asks something, place the exclamation mark after the quote, before the closing quotation mark.

Example: Mary interrupted excitedly, "I know that North America is the third largest continent!"

8. A quote separated by the person who spoke is called a split quotation. Begin the first part of a split quotation with a capital letter, and end with a comma. Begin the second part of a split quotation with a lower case letter. Enclose both parts of the split quotation with quotation marks.

Example: "OK class," said the teacher, "tomorrow we will use the computer and learn more about continents."
Adopted from http://www.studyzone.org/testprep/ela4/j/quotationmarksl.cfm
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Still unsure about commas and quotations?  Click one of the links below to review.
Review 1
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/577/01/
Review 2
http://ww2.odu.edu/al/wts/cquote.htm
Review 3
http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/quotation_marks.html
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Test your skills by clicking here!
http://www2.ivcc.edu/rambo/eng1001/practice_quotations_quiz.htm
This quiz is tough but don't give up!  You can do it:
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/quizzes/quotes_quiz.htm
For those of you that might want to know a little more about quotes and commas.
For those of you that want EVEN MORE, click here and review the material and then take the quiz on the bottom of the page. Warning:  The quiz is REALLY tough:
http://www.kentlaw.edu/academics/lrw/grinker/LwtaQuotation_Marks.htm
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CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.2 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.              
                             CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.2b Use commas and quotation marks to mark direct speech and quotations from a text
                              CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.2c Use a comma before a coordinating conjunction in a compound sentence.