Punctuation in a sentence

From FreeReading

Activity Type: Introduce

Activity Form: Standard

Grade: K, 1 (can be adapted for older students)

Group Size: Small Group

Length: 5-8 minutes

Materials: A Fun Day

Goal: The student can develop understanding that sentences end in punctuation marks.

Items: A Fun Day

What to do

1. Display a copy of A Fun Day for the class to see. Turn to page 1 in the book. Today, we are going to learn that every sentence ends with a punctuation mark.
2. Read the sentence on page 1. If I look at the end of the sentence, you will see that there is a dot. Point to the period after the word “Mia.” This dot is a punctuation mark. Every sentence ends with a punctuation mark. This punctuation mark is called a period.
3. There are different types of punctuation marks that come at the end of a sentence. On the board write a period, a question mark, and an exclamation point. Point to the period. This punctuation mark is a period. We write it at the end of statements, like the statement that we just read.
4. Point to the question mark. This is a question mark. We put a question mark at the end of a sentence that is a question. Let’s look at an example. Turn to page 12 and read the sentence: “Would you like to read a book?” Mia is asking Sam a question. She is asking if he wants to read a book. Since this is a question, it ends with a question mark.
5. Point to the exclamation mark on the board. This is an exclamation point. It is used to indicate strong feelings or loud volume. On the board, write the sentence: The tiger has escaped the zoo! Read the sentence aloud to the students. At the end of this sentence there is an exclamation point because the sentence is to be read with a lot of excitement.
6. At the end of each sentence there is a punctuation mark that is either a period, a question mark, or an exclamation point.