Focus Lesson: 1st Grade on Punctuation!

For one of my classes, I was asked to create a focus lesson using a mentor text for a writer's workshop! Here it is...

Focus Lesson

Rationale:

I will be teaching the importance of punctuation because students need to be able to see that the type of punctuation that they use makes a difference in the way the reader reads their writing. I will be teaching students the importance of using the appropriate punctuation marks based upon what they are trying to state, or how they want the reader to read the sentence that they created. Students will also be evaluating their writing to see how their punctuation affects how they read their writing, and thus, they will be able to revise their sentences to demonstrate the appropriate punctuation. This learning is important because the ending punctuation of a sentence really makes a difference in the way that the reader reads the sentence.

Standard:

ELA1W1 The student begins to understand the principles of writing. The student

l. Uses appropriate end punctuation (period and question mark).

 

Mentor Text: Punctuation Takes a Vacation by Robin Pulver

Lesson Description: (5-10 minutes)

The teacher will have already read this book prior to the writing workshop so students have a background of the text. During this lesson, the teacher will read the pages that are marked in the book previously.

First page: The teacher will talk about how each punctuation mark has its own rule and will read with inflection based on the punctuation mark how each sentence sounds based upon the punctuation mark.

Second page: The teacher will read this page, which is a few sentences put together without using any punctuation marks. The teacher will show the students that not using punctuation all together will make the reader read really fast without knowing when to stop.

Third page: The teacher will read this page, stopping at every punctuation mark reading the sentence based upon what mark is present. This page demonstrates how if a student uses the incorrect punctuation mark, then the reader will read the wrong way.

To close the lesson, the teacher will talk with the students about how the use of punctuation affects the way that the reader reads a piece of writing that is produced.

Independent writing:

Students will go back to their desks and either work on their work that they have already started or create new sentences and use different punctuation marks to show how different ones can change how the reader reads. If students are working on their past work, the students will see if they are using appropriate punctuation marks based upon what they have written, or they can change the punctuation marks in order to assist how the reader is supposed to read what they have written. If the students want to practice using punctuation marks, the students can write the same sentence a few times, and put different punctuation marks at the end of each. The students will then read the sentences and see how they are different based on the different punctuation marks.

Sharing:

Students will share what they have been working on today with a neighbor, or their sharing partner. If they were writing new sentences, they will read these sentences to their partner and show how they are different based upon punctuation marks being different. If they are still working on past work, the students will show their partner how they are using correct punctuation marks.