Noisy Punctuation Game
Children will identify commas, periods, question marks and more during this fun read-aloud activity.
50 Wonderful Word Games by Alan Trussell-Cullen: Practice punctuation, grammar skills, and more.
What you need:
• short prose piece (preferably fiction) that has many punctuation marks (periods, exclamation points, commas, question marks, etc.)
What to do:
1. Looking at the story you have chosen, discuss the different punctuation marks and decide on a sound effect for each. You might whistle a scale for a comma, put a finger into your mouth and make a pop sound for a period, and clap your hands for a question mark.
2. Next, devise an action to go with each punctuation mark. For example, you could give a deep bow for a comma, throw both arms into the air for capital letters, and turn around for an exclamation point. Experiment with different movements to find ones you can agree on and perform successfully!
3. Now comes the "performance." One person reads the story, while the other performs the punctuation on cue.
4. Try switching roles of performer and reader, with the same piece or with a different one.
Learning benefits:
• punctuation
• creative expression
From 50 Wonderful Word Games by Alan Trussell-Cullen
(Scholastic Professional Books)
