The punctuation marks

Piece by Ruth Salles

A game to learn punctuation marks. Music from popular children's songbook. This version is updated due to the spelling reform. Here you can watch a video of a third year class, from the Rudolf Steiner Waldorf School, rehearsing the play.

CHARACTERS:

Choir
Group that makes the gestures of the caret, grave and acute accents
Two sentences without punctuation
chorus of astonishment
Two points
Quotation marks
Semicolon
Question Mark
Comma
Exclamation mark
Cedilla
Til
dash
Ellipsis
Full stop

(Each sign has its design on the gown, except the three in the group that gestures)

ALL (sing):
“Seven and seven is fourteen.
The punctuation marks
are always helping
in a good essay.
Or flying over the letters,
or stepping on the ground,
are always working
punctuation marks.”

GROUP OF THE THREE ACCENTS (with gestures indicating signs):
– With the circumflex accent,
I carry a peach in the bag.
With a grave accent,
I go to school.
With the acute accent,
I even study.

TWO POINTS:
– If the sentence wants to make a quote,
I skip my colon, and she follows then.

QUOTATION MARKS:
– This is where my hooks go two by two:
Quotes first and quotes after.

SEMICOLON:
– The sentence runs and advances,
but with the semicolon it rests.

QUESTION MARK:
– And I am the question mark.
If anything the phrase wants to know,
on top of the stitch I curl up and that's it!
Just answer.

COMMA:
– The comma is very light, it makes the sentence breathe.
Going slow you get far. It's better not to get tired.

EXCLAMATION MARK:
- Hello class!
I am the exclamation point.
If the phrase wants to show emotion,
I get on the point,
I stretch my arm
and ready!

CEDILLA:
– If a problem appears in Cê,
I, the lady cedilla,
I make the C turn two These!

TIL:
– I am the tilde.
I wanted so much to be a wave of the sea...
But since I can't,
I make a ripple over the O or the A.

FIRST SENTENCE WITHOUT SCORE:
– Listen to João Maria's sentence I saw it before after Luiza I also not only saw Gastão

CHORUS OF Amazement:
- Relief! What a mess!
Call the colon, the quotes, the semicolon,
the question mark, the comma
and the exclamation point!

(The so-called signs come rushing in and insert themselves into the sentence, which is then repeated)

FIRST SENTENCE, WITH SCORE:
– Listen to John’s sentence:
“Mary I have seen before;
Did I see Luiza too?
No, I only saw Gaston!”

CHORUS OF Amazement:
- Ufa! Glad you got a solution!

SECOND SENTENCE WITHOUT SCORE:
– The heat is a disgrace to the heart of the sea lion. He hiccups and stumbles.

CHORUS OF Amazement:
- Relief! What was that? How horrible!
Call the cedilla and the tilde, please!

(The so-called signs come running and settle into the sentence, which is then repeated)

SECOND SENTENCE, WITH SCORE:
– The heat is a disgrace to the heart of the sea lion. He sobs and stumbles.

CHORUS OF Amazement:
- Ufa! Good thing we fixed the sentence quickly!

ellipsis (3) (holding the dash):
– Wait, wait, where are you going? Who are you?

INSTRUCTIONS:
– I am the dash,
a pretty big risk.
I cross the sentence
whenever I can,
and explain a little more
what was said before.

ELLIPSIS:
– Wait for the right sentence.
This one is already complete.
stay back here
and think some more
this, that, etc... etc...

INSTRUCTIONS:
- But who are you?
with so much patience?

ELLIPSIS:
– We are the reticence!

ALL:
– Seven and seven are fourteen.
The punctuation marks
are always helping
in a good essay.
Is it fourteen or is it fifteen?
Nobody can confirm
because they all shake
not knowing if they will stay.
And the apostrophe? And the hyphen?
Sixteen or seventeen?
But I'm fourteen,
because it's seven plus seven.

FULL STOP:
- And after this conversation,
the festival is over.
'Cause I come and stop the play
with my endpoint!

***