Friday Freebie: Punctuation Fluency

A month or two ago I saw an awesome idea on Pinterest. A teacher had combined letter naming practice and reading with correct punctuation inflection into an awesome activity.  It was fantastic, and I immediately put the idea to use.

However, in my excitement about this idea, I apparently forgot to repin it, and now I cannot find the pin or the picture anywhere despite an extensive search.  (Be forewarned:  searching for "abc. def?" will produce surprising number of images of women in their bras.)

Essentially the teacher had written chunks of three to four letters in alphabetical order.  Each of these chunks ended with a punctuation mark.  Brilliant!  As younger students practice letter naming they can also practice reading with proper inflection and intonation as they encounter various punctuation marks.

The pin I saw had the series of letters written out on large paper, which would be great in a classroom.  However, since some of my interventions take place outside of my classroom (like in the hallway), I need something more portable.  I quickly made these strips:  Punctuation Fluency.

I've been using them for the last few weeks and my students LOVE them!  It is a fun, quick intervention that provides fast results.

The best part?  Older students love them too!

Initially, I thought I would use these strips mainly as a letter naming/punctuation fluency combo with younger students.  But some of my older students race through texts, ignoring any sign of punctuation.  These strips have also helped them learn to slow down and improve their prosody, which in turn will hopefully help their comprehension.

You can download the Punctuation Fluency strips for free here:  Punctuation Fluency.

If you use these strips in your classroom, I'd love to hear how they worked for your students.  Also, if you know of the pin I'm talking about, I'd love if you shared the link with me!  Thanks!