The materials explicitly state that commas are used after a response of "yes" or "no" and after a direct address (Things to Know and Comma Usage rules). The Student Activity Page gives examples ("Yes, we can go home."; "Jim, can you hand me that rope?") and asks students to add commas to dialogue lines that require commas for direct address and yes/no responses. The answer key shows student corrections adding commas after "No," and in direct addresses such as "Phillip, you can help...".

The writing rubric in the Student Activity Page asks, "Do you use commas correctly with items in a series, in direct address, and when starting a sentence with 'yes' or 'no'?" The Activities sections emphasize mechanics as a focus area and instruct students to check comma use as part of editing. The rubric prompts students to evaluate their own use of commas for direct address and sentences beginning with yes/no.

Students practice placing commas in dialogue and direct address in the Quotation Marks activity where the answer key shows examples such as "Lucas," she said, "you are home." and "Ida, what happened?". The activity asks students to write a conversation using quotation marks and commas correctly and provides model corrections like "Dina, no!" and "Barbara cried, \"We've lost everything!\".". The lesson also reviews rules that periods and commas go within quotation marks and that a comma is used to set off the quotation from the rest of the sentence.

The lesson explicitly tells students to "Use a comma after the person's name" in the greeting and shows a sample greeting with "Dear Caleb," which models a comma with direct address. The closing instructions also tell students to use a closing remark followed by a comma ("Lovingly,"). The rubric prompts students to check comma usage with the item "Do I use commas correctly?", encouraging them to proofread comma placement.

Students practice adding punctuation in Activity 2 and check their work against the provided answer key. The answer key includes the sentence "Hide the baby, Dina." which shows the comma used to indicate direct address. The instructions also direct students to review the rules for commas and quotation marks on p. 32 of the Handy Guide to Writing.

The lesson explicitly tells students that "A comma sets off spoken words from the rest of the sentence" and lists the skill to "Use commas and quotation marks correctly when writing direct quotations." Activity 1 asks students to write dialogue in a journal and to "Review the rules for punctuating dialogue on p. 32 of the Handy Guide to Writing," and the parent check asks to verify correct punctuation in that conversation. The wrapping up and Things to Review sections instruct students to review rules for using quotation marks and punctuation for speech.

Students are instructed that personal letter greetings and closings end with a comma ("The greeting always ends with a comma." and "Closing... ends in a comma"). Students are asked to write letters that include a salutation and signature line and to address an envelope, which requires them to use commas in standard letter formatting. Students practice writing sentences in summaries and letters, giving opportunity to place punctuation while composing.

Students are prompted to self-assess punctuation in the Persuasive Essay Rubric with the checklist items "Do I use the correct punctuation at the end of each sentence?" and "Do I use commas correctly?". Students are guided to edit and revise their drafts (Activity 7) and to refer to a "Handy Guide to Writing" for grammar or punctuation rules while correcting mistakes. Students also complete multiple writing and conferencing activities that require them to apply punctuation when producing the introductory, body, and concluding paragraphs.

Students read the quoted line "We know you have a great mind and all, Mother, but you don't have much sense..." in Question #1, which uses commas to set off the name Mother (direct address). The materials include many sentences and exercises, but the explicit instructional content and activities focus on possessive plurals and apostrophes. The student activity pages and practice items do not present rules or exercises about comma usage for yes/no or tag questions.

The lesson provides explicit guidance and examples for punctuating dialogue, including examples that use commas with dialogue tags (e.g., "Come with me," he whispered, "and I'll show you what they've been hiding."). Students are instructed to proofread for punctuation and to consult the Handy Guide to Writing for punctuation rules. The rubric includes a "Grammar" criterion that asks for correct punctuation-related items such as capitalization and possessives, implying attention to punctuation conventions.