Pay Attention to Punctuation

The boys and girls have learned another strategy to improve their reading skills. "Paying Attention to Punctuation" has been our focus. When children learn to read, they often read right through the end of a sentence without stopping at periods, question marks, and exclamation points. We have taught the students to read the periods without saying a sound. They should stop at the period and exaggerate closing their mouth so that they pause before reading the next sentence. This is not a natural way to read, but it is a strategy to help beginning readers train themselves to stop and pause at the punctuation that ends a sentence. Much like pointing to the words the readers will eventually pay attention to punctuation without closing their mouth in an exaggerated way.