When it comes to language conventions, it’s important to give students a strong foundation as their writing and reading becomes more complex. Memorizing comma rules seems daunting, but paired with helpful examples and practice, it will soon become second nature to students. Giving students a strong foundation in grammar and punctuation allows them to become their own editors, confident in their ability to spot details within their writing.

Below are some resources and tips for teaching students about commas. These resources are from Language Fundamentals (grade 4).

Using Commas with Words in a Series

They are shopping for clothes, shoes, and school supplies.

• Begin your lessons with simple sentences and simple comma rules, like series.
• Start by giving your students examples of series, so they can easily identify them in a sentence.
• Have students practice adding commas to sentences with series in them.
• Have students practice writing serial sentences with correct commas!

Using Commas Before Conjunctions in Sentences

Danilo is trying to eat better, and he wants to get more exercise.

 

Using Commas in a Complex Sentence

Unless Rachel practices her spelling, she will not improve her spelling skills.

• This rule is easier to understand after regular conjunctions and compound sentences have been introduced.
• If students are struggling to determine where commas go in a sentence, practice reading sentences aloud and exaggerating pauses.
  • For example: Jana listens to music when she makes pottery. vs. Jana listens to music when (long pause) she makes pottery. The first one sounds better, so no comma is needed.
• The subordinating conjunctions (e.g., when, although, since) act as separators, so if they’re in the middle of the sentence, there’s no need to add anything else. If they’re at the beginning of a sentence, the sentence needs a comma to separate the thoughts.

Using Commas with Quotation Marks

“Let’s go to the pet store,” I said.

• If your class has done a book report recently, ask them to pay attention to the author’s use of commas and quotation marks in dialogue. You can also pull an excerpt from the class’s reading, so that the example provided is familiar to them.
• Short story projects are a fun and creative technique to help students practice writing dialogue and using commas and quotation marks fluidly.

Using Commas with Proper Nouns

Nicole, look at this brochure about wellness.

• Practice exaggerating pauses when reading these sentences aloud so students recognize the need for a comma when using a proper noun in a sentence.
• This can also be applied to short story writing, when characters address each other.

Using Commas in Letter Writing

Dear Aunt Lillian,

• Holidays are the perfect time to practice grammar and punctuation skills. For example, if Easter is coming up, have students write a letter to the Easter bunny using appropriate commas. At the end of the school year, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are great occasions to practice letter writing. And of course, students can write Christmas letters to Santa!
• Start a pen-pal program at your school. Coordinate with another class at your school, schools across the country, schools around world, or even students within your very own classroom. Students can practice their letter writing skills and receive letters in return!
  • Partnering with different grade levels benefits students tremendously. Assign each student a “buddy” for the year. (These buddies also work well to promote anti-bullying on campus by making older students conscious of and empathetic toward younger students.) These grade pairings work well:
    • Kindergarten and third grade
    • First grade and fourth grade
    • Second grade and fifth grade

Using Commas in Addresses

Karen Donovan
29 Crocker Lane
Northampton, MA 01060

• Pair this lesson with your letter writing activities to complete students’ knowledge of proper letter writing and punctuation!
• Students will be able to write and address letters by themselves and can start up a pen-pal friendship.

Using Commas in Dates

September 26, 2020

• This lesson will become especially useful in history class; intertwine your two lessons by making note of how commas are used for important dates like the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
• Often, letters are dated by the author. When teaching letters and addresses, include writing dates to make students’ letter writing more advanced.

All of these lessons are included in Language Fundamentals (grade 4), an activity book that is available for grades 1–6. Each unit explains the concept and provides examples, practice problems, and review questions.

 

Additional Resources and Activities

Daily Language Review (grades 1–8):

These 10- to 15-minute exercises cover the fundamentals of language, like punctuation, conjunctions, verb tenses, and word meaning. Each activity book covers 36 weeks of everyday learning!

Schoolhouse Grammar Rock

These short and fun videos cover many different grammar topics, such as prepositions, sentence structure, adjectives, interjections, and more. The lyrics are catchy, and I still recall them 10 years after fourth grade!

Whiteboard Relays

Separate your class into two teams. Write a series of sentences on the board that are either missing a comma or have an incorrect placement of one. Have a few students at a time (one student per sentence) race to the board, correct the sentence with a marker, and then hand off the marker to the next in line. The first team to finish all the sentences correctly wins!

Hot and Cold Comma Placement

Write sentences on the board that need commas. With you or a student at the board, have the class call out “colder” or “warmer” and move your marker accordingly until they decide on the placement of the comma(s).

Comma Rules Jeopardy

This is a fun jeopardy-style template to practice comma placement and rules. Play it with your class, asking them to correct the sentence before you reveal the answers.

Laying these basic foundations of grammar and punctuation for your students will benefit them throughout their academic careers and leave them a step ahead as their writing advances.

For more teaching tips check out: How to Teach Figurative Language: Similes and Metaphors for Grades 3-6

 

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Christine Wooler has experience working with children as a youth soccer coach and summer camp counselor. She is currently studying English Literature and journalism in college. She enjoys exploring educational topics that help students have fun while learning.