ELA Bell Ringer for Grades 9–12: Three ways to fix a comma splice
A free ELA bell ringer for grades 9–12. Put the prompt on the board as students walk in, give them three to five minutes, then go over it together. The answer and teacher notes are in the box below the prompt.
The prompt
This sentence is a comma splice. Fix it three different ways: once with a period, once with a semicolon, and once with a comma plus a conjunction.
The bus was late again, most of us missed the start of first period.
Answer and teacher notes
Period: The bus was late again. Most of us missed the start of first period.
Semicolon: The bus was late again; most of us missed the start of first period.
Comma + conjunction: The bus was late again, so most of us missed the start of first period.
A comma splice joins two complete sentences with only a comma. A comma alone can't hold two independent clauses together. Ask which version best shows that the second idea is caused by the first (the "so" version makes it explicit).
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