Lesson plan
Earth Day Punctuation
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to use correct punctuation.
Introduction
(2 minutes)- Invite students to play a quick game in which they guess the topic of the lesson. They will look at the symbols that are on the board and make connections to figure out the topic.
- Draw a period, question mark, quotation marks, comma, apostrophe, and exclamation point.
- Allow students to share their thoughts about the topic of the lesson, and confirm that this lesson is about punctuation.
Explicit Instruction/Teacher modeling
(10 minutes)- State the objective of today’s lesson and have students repeat it.
- Explain to students that punctuation is marks, like periods and commas, in a piece of writing that make its meaning clear and that separate it into sentences and clauses.
- Review punctuation rules and give examples of each by displaying them on the document camera: For example, "When we create the possessive form of a noun, we use an apostrophe, which is the punctuation mark that is used to show possession," etc.
- Explain that today’s lesson will be include sentences that teach us a little about Earth Day, which is a day that brings awareness and appreciation about the environment.
Guided Practice
(10 minutes)- Divide students into small groups of 3-4 students. Distribute a copy of the Punctuate the Story: Earth Day worksheet to each student.
- Read the passage aloud to the class, purposely making it sound funny with the lack of correct punctuation.
- Instruct students to fix the paragraph using all of the different types of punctuation reviewed earlier in the lesson. Encourage students to look at the example sentences as a reference as they complete the group work.
- Circulate while the groups work and listen to conversations about why certain punctuation is needed. Prompt students to discuss why the punctuation belongs there.
- Go over the worksheet as a class and have students defend their answers. Call on non-volunteers to either agree or disagree and explain.
Independent working time
(10 minutes)- Give each student a copy of the Earth Day Sentence Editing worksheet.
- Instruct students to edit the sentences using the punctuation rules that were reviewed and practiced in today’s lesson.
Differentiation
Support:
- Provide struggling students with example sentences with each mistake and how it is corrected.
- Reduce the number of questions students must complete on the independent practice.
- Support students by highlighting the locations of the mistakes in each sentence.
- Read the sentences aloud to the students, or have students read the sentences aloud to themselves.
Enrichment:
- Partner advanced students together and have each create a paragraph with punctuation mistakes. Have them trade paragraphs and correct the punctuation.
Assessment
(5 minutes)- Give each student an index card. Present them with the instructions for the exit ticket: Write a sentence that uses two of the following types of punctuation: quotation marks, comma, period, question mark, exclamation point, apostrophe.
- Utilize the exit ticket and independent practice as a formative assessment of students’ mastery of using correct punctuation.
Review and closing
(3 minutes)- Ask students to turn and talk to a partner about what they learned about Earth Day through the punctuation lesson today.
- Call on non-volunteers to share either what they or their partner learned.
- Choose 1-2 answers, record the sentences without punctuation on the document camera, and have students point out and explain where the punctuation goes.
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