CATCHING PUNCTUATION

Transcription

1 CATCHING PUNCTUATION Purpose: Students will review proper punctuation using a period, exclamation mark or question mark. Suggested Grade Level: 1-3 Language Arts SOL: Writing 1.13, 2.13, 3.10 although the actual writing is not included in this lesson. Equipment/Materials Needed: 1. Three small buckets labeled with a punctuation mitt (see attached); one large bucket/basket 2. Cut out baseball patterns with sentences missing their punctuation mark (see attached) 3. Six cones and 6 bean bags Advance Preparation: 1. Set out cones in a circular fashion with one bean bag at each cone. 2. Place a target (larger bucket/basket) in the center of the circle with the cut out baseball sentences in the bucket. 3. Place small punctuation buckets beside each other outside of the circle. Directions: 1. Divide students into 6 groups and assign each group a cone. 2. Explain that students will be working on punctuation. 3. Instruct students in each group to take turns with the members of their group trying to toss their bean bag into the bucket in the center. 4. When a bean bag lands in the bucket, instruct the student who tossed it to retrieve the bean bag and a paper baseball and bring it back to their group. 5. Instruct the group to read the sentence and decides if the sentence ends in a period, question mark or exclamation point. 6. Have the student that tossed take the baseball and place it in the corresponding baseball mitt bucket. 7. While a member of the team is taking the baseball to the bucket, instruct the remaining group members to jog in place, do scissor kicks, etc., until the other group member returns. 8. Repeat steps 3-7 above. 9. Continue until all the baseball sentences are gone from the middle bucket. 10. Collect the punctuation buckets and read the sentences out of the buckets. 11. Have students agree with where the baseball was placed with silent responses (ex. raise the roof = agree; arms crossing back and forth = disagree; stand up = agree; stay seated = disagree). 12. Have the class count out loud the number they got correct. Page 1 of 2

2 Teaching Suggestions: 1. Make bean bags different colors so groups can distinguish between their own bean bag and another team s bean bag. 2. Remind students that when they miss they must hand the bean bag to the next person in line and not throw it back. 3. Tell students that timing their toss is important. Others may be in the path of their toss when they are retrieving their own bean bag. 4. This is not a competition. Remind students that this is a class effort and the only reason to split into teams is so everyone can have more chances to toss. Modifications/Variations: 1. Use some type of ball or colored piece of paper if bean bags are unavailable. 2. Have the sentences on the baseballs cross over into another topic you are studying famous Americans, weather, nutrition, etc. 3. If you re inside you can use paper plate mitts (the wind won t be a factor). 4. Use this lesson with nouns (person mitt, place mitt, thing mitt), verbs (baseballs are action verbs, helping verbs, and to be verbs). Page 2 of 2 This lesson was developed by the School Health Initiative Program (SHIP) for the Williamsburg James City County Public Schools (WJCCPS), Williamsburg, VA. SHIP is funded by the Williamsburg Community Health Foundation (WCHF). Parts or all of this lesson can be used and reproduced without permission provided that SHIP, WJCCPS and WCHF are credited.

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4 ! Lesson: Catching Punctuation

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6 Hey, wait for me Let s get a healthy snack What is your favorite exercise How do you do the triangle stretch Yikes, a spider is right there Gee, that elephant is huge

7 Where are the bananas Who will bring the fruit to the party Apples are a healthy snack Would you like to play outside with me Oh no, I forgot the gift Are you feeling okay

8 Wow, you ran really fast What time do you have soccer practice Can you show me how to eat a pomegranate Is that good for you I like it when we have extra recess time My favorite center is physical education

9 Yeah, it s the last day of school Look, a shooting star Are you planning to go to fitness night Hey, that was the biggest bear I ever saw That s terrific Wow, our team finally finished in the top five

10 Thank you for being so nice That show was the best one ever What an exciting way for the game to end What was the score How often do you swim I can spell very well