Teaching Children Basic Punctuation.

For a long time now I've been searching for a method of teaching basic punctuation to children. Yep, they all know what a full stop (period) looks like. They even know to follow one with a capital letter. But what they do not know, is when to use a full stop.

There doesn't seen to be much advice out there, apart from the obvious stuff. However, this method is pretty good.

Begin by looking at simple sentences with your class. Explain that they are just single thoughts or pieces of information. Work on a few exercises where they explain what the info is in various pre-prepared sentences.

e.g.

It was raining outside Bob put on his boots.

This contains two thoughts and so should be two simple sentences.

From there, progress on to letting the children write at length, but stress that each sentence should be simple and contain one thought.

They'll probably struggle to be brief enough and write sentences which are too long. From here, let them repeat the exercise, but insist that no sentence be more than eight words long. It must still make sense though!

When they get to grips with this (which they will!) every time they write at length, give them a calculator and have them divide the number of words by the number of full stops they have used. This will tell them their average sentence length. Eight to ten words is perfect.

Get them to read their work out to the class. They will really be able to hear the difference in style between 8-10 average and those which are higher.

The children can now rework pieces or writing, trying to lower their average sentence length when necessary. It's a challenge most of the children I teach enjoy.

Try it teachers - you'll be amazed at the difference it can make.