Accurate punctuation and grammar are the difference between knowing your stuff and knowing you’re stuffed! So take the time to work it out, so that you can do well on the Literacy portion of the Teacher's Skills Test.
Here are five top tips for literacy-related success:
When you’re reading or writing, the most powerful words are always nouns – focus on them if you’re having trouble.
Remember that reading a passage in your head and listening for where natural pauses occur helps you know where punctuation has been omitted.
Possessive apostrophes are always a giveaway. They’re simple too. Start by thinking who the object or concept belongs to, then add the apostrophe after that – so if the computer belongs to the bishop, it is the bishop’s computer. If the computers belong to the bishops, they are the bishops’ computers.
Remember, punctuation sometimes separates (words form words in a list, sentences from sentences) and sometimes connects (e.g. colons and semi-colons to show how ideas work together).
Reading in your head as if you were reading aloud is really helpful. It slows you down and helps you see whether what you’re writing or reading makes sense.