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Typing · Ages 9+ · Set A
Tiny lines and tiny hooks
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Goal: 15 min
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Remember: A hyphen ties words into one big word. A hook marks missing letters or shows who owns something. Neat and careful is best.

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Read the story, then answer.

The sign tentIt was fair day, and Wren and her Grandad Ike ran the sign tent. A boy wanted a sign for the merry-go-round, so Wren typed the three words. But they wobbled and drifted apart, like boats with no rope. Grandad Ike said to tie them together with a hyphen, a short line that ties words into one big word. Next came a sign for the cake stall: do not touch. Grandad Ike squeezed the two words into one, and the o hopped out. Now it said don't, with a tiny hook where the o had been. That hook is an apostrophe. It has a second job too: it shows who owns something. Wren found a hat with Sam's name on the tag, so it was Sam's hat, and Crumb the cat napped in Crumb's basket.
1
What does a hyphen do to words?
📢makes a word louder🪢ties words into one❓ends a question
2
In don't, the apostrophe stands where a letter is missing.
TrueFalse
3
Which one shows that the basket belongs to Crumb the cat?
Crumb's basketCrumbs basketCrumb basket

Look, match and fix

A hyphen ties words into one. An apostrophe is a tiny hook.

4
Look at the table. In don't, which letter did the hook replace?
the t in notthe n in notthe o in not
5
The hyphen key is next to the blue key. Write the number on the blue key:
6
The apostrophe key is on the home row, just past the blue key. Which finger stretches over for it?
left pinkyright pinkyright ring finger
7
Join each short word to the words it squeezes.
  1. 1don't
  2. 2it's
  3. 3I'm
  4. 4we're
  • Awe are
  • Bit is
  • CI am
  • Ddo not
8
Circle every word whose hook marks a missing letter.
isn'tMia's bikethey'reRex's boneshe's
9
To type a hyphen you must hold the shift key.
TrueFalse
10
Grandad Ike typed: Dont touch Crumbs cake! What does the line need?
a hook in Dont and a hook before the s in Crumbsa hyphen in Dont and in Crumbsa hook after the s in Crumbs
11
Number the steps for typing Sam's hat.
  • Type the letter s
  • Type the name Sam
  • Reach the right pinky past the semicolon for the hook
  • Type a space, then hat
12
Stretch: let's is the short way to write let .

Copy and write

13
Copy it. well-known merry-go-round
14
Write a sign for your room with one tied word and one short word with a hook.
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Answer key · Set A
Tiny lines and tiny hooks
1ties words into one A hyphen is a short line that ties words into one big word, like merry-go-round.
2True Do not squeezes into don't, and the hook stands where the o hopped out.
3Crumb's basket The hook before the s shows who owns something, so it is Crumb's basket.
4the o in not Do not becomes don't: the o in not hops out, and the hook takes its place.
50 The hyphen key is the key next to zero, at the end of the number row.
6right pinky The right pinky stretches past the semicolon for the apostrophe, and no shift is needed.
71-D, 2-B, 3-C, 4-A The hook stands where letters are missing: do not, it is, I am and we are.
8isn't, they're, she's Isn't, they're and she's squeeze two words into one. In Mia's bike and Rex's bone the hook shows who owns something.
9False The hyphen needs no shift: the right pinky reaches up to the key next to zero.
10a hook in Dont and a hook before the s in Crumbs Don't needs a hook where the o is missing, and Crumb's needs a hook before the s to show who owns the cake.
113, 1, 2, 4 Type the owner's name, then the hook, then the s, and then the thing that is owned.
12us Let's squeezes let us into one word, and the hook stands where the u is missing.
14Your own words: a grown-up reads it.
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