Name: ____________________________________________________ Date: ______________________
Punctuation
The Case of the Weary Lunch Lady
If this letter from the students at Webster
Elementary doesn’t convince the lunch lady to
change the lunch menu, then nothing will. Too bad
these kids don’t know how to use punctuation
marks. Can you help?
Directions: Fill in the correct punctuation marks in the
letter below.
Dear Lunch Lady Ruth
Lately we students have noticed that you seem
overworked You look tired Your hairnet is always on
crooked You can barely keep your eyes open as we
slide our trays by you Once you dumped a ladleful of gravy on Tommy’s head His mom was not
pleased when she got the dry-cleaning bill for his Boy Scout uniform
It can’t be easy to feed all of us It must take hours of chopping broccoli slicing brussels
sprouts and cooking lima beans to fix lunch for hundreds of students Things need to change
Don’t get us wrong We appreciated the liver meatballs you fixed for us last Thursday Just
because that food fight started before we could eat any of them doesn’t mean we wouldn’t have
loved the meal Those meatballs were just so easy to throw They bounced nicely too Oh and
sorry you had to clean up the cafeteria afterwards Still it was pretty impressive how high we got
those spaghetti noodles stuck up on the wall wasn’t it
Let us make a suggestion Candy corn and jelly beans require absolutely no preparation in
the kitchen Just grab a bunch set them on the plate and hand them to us hungry students We’ll
be happy to put them in our stomachs not on each other Can Swedish Fish provide us with
protein Candy Corn is a vegetable right
We hope you will consider our proposal
Sincerely
The Students of Webster Elementary
28
GRAMMAR COP
© Scholastic Teaching Resources
The Case of the Weary Lunch Lady (p. 28)
Dear Lunch Lady Ruth,
Lately we students have noticed that you seem overworked. You look tired. Your hairnet is always on crooked. You can
barely keep your eyes open as we slide our trays by you. Once you dumped a ladleful of gravy on Tommy’s head! His mom was not
pleased when she got the dry-cleaning bill for his Boy Scout uniform.
It can’t be easy to feed all of us. It must take hours of chopping broccoli, slicing brussels sprouts, and cooking lima beans
to fix lunch for hundreds of students. Things need to change! Don’t get us wrong. We appreciated the liver meatballs you fixed for
us last Thursday. Just because that food fight started before we could eat any of them doesn’t mean we wouldn’t have loved the
meal. Those meatballs were just so easy to throw! They bounced nicely, too. Oh, and sorry you had to clean up the cafeteria
afterwards. Still, it was pretty impressive how high we got those spaghetti noodles stuck up on the wall, wasn’t it?
Let us make a suggestion. Candy Corn and Jelly Beans require absolutely no preparation in the kitchen. Just grab a bunch,
set them on the plate, and hand them to us hungry students. We’ll be happy to put them in our stomachs, not on each other. Can
Swedish Fish provide us with protein? Candy Corn is a vegetable, right?
We hope you will consider our proposal.
Sincerely,
The Students of Webster Elementary