In first and second grades, using commas correctly is often a skill that students need practice with. When we first introduce the use of commas in writing, we begin by reading aloud a book that has commas in the text. Here are some we like:
After reading aloud a book containing commas to separate a series of words, rewrite one of the sentences containing commas on the board. Point out where the commas are and teach students that when you are listing a group of three or more items in your writing, you always use a comma to separate the words in the list. We suggest writing the commas in a bright color to highlight to students what they look like.
Comma Book Give each student a paper and have them write their own sentence using commas to separate their list. You might choose to give students a topic like favorite foods or members of their family. In our classes, we like to have students first write their sentence on a white board so we can check for correct comma placement. Once students have written their sentence, they can illustrate it. We used this paper to create our books: Landscape Double Lined Paper When they were finished, we created a class cover and had a comma book to add to our class book basket.
Unscramble Us! Use this set of scrambled sentences to help students practice placing commas correctly in a sentence. We like to laminate ours so they can be used over and over. This turns this activity into a great center. If you would like students to record their words, use this page: Scrambled Sentences Recording Pages Sentences Only Sentence and Picture
Do you have other comma activities you find helpful in your classroom? Please share below!
Punctuation Writing Unit of Study for the Classroom
Wednesday 10th of October 2012
[...] Many students will need more practice with this skill, you will find other activities here: http://www.thecurriculumcorner.com/2012/10/10/using-commas-to-separate-groups/ [...]