In this study, the orthography and punctuation problem was evaluated within the context of the curricula and textbooks. The data obtained from both sources were assessed by way of document reviews, and consequently, it was seen that the orthography and punctuation topics existed as learning outcomes only in the curricula for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th…

Suggests the use of toys to help children learn to use prepositions. Also describes a group activity in which children work together to punctuate a piece of writing. (TJ)

Responds to letters from readers in response to recent "Research" columns. Deals with the issues of learning disabilities, whole language approach, the "skills" perspective, junk food textbooks, and punctuation. (RS)

Letter poems make poetry accessible, meaningful, and fun. Letter poems are also an apt medium for exploring a defining characteristic of poetry--line breaks. Students explore letter poems and experiment with writing letters as poems, using the placement of line breaks to enhance rhythm, sound, meaning, and appearance. During the two 40-minute…

Six pupils were selected at random from each of grades one through eight in a single school and were asked to write a rough draft of any length on any topic of interest to them. The 48 resulting essays were analyzed for errors in punctuation and sentence structure. Results indicated that elementary school children have difficulty in placing…

A fifth grader wanted to know what he had to do to get all his ideas the way he wanted them in his story writing "and" have the spelling, punctuation and quotation marks correctly styled. His teacher encouraged him to think about writing as a process and provided the student with three steps as guidelines for effective writing. (Author/RK)

Curriculum-based measures of written expression have traditionally used total words written or correct word sequences as indices of students' skill levels. This investigation attempted to determine whether additional hand-scored and computer-scored measures might share more variance with the criterion measures. The new measure, correct punctuation…

Offers a step-by-step guide to teaching elementary school children conventions such as punctuation, spelling, and grammar and includes a sample minilesson and 10 tips for teachers. An interview with author Donald Graves answers questions about teaching writing. (SM)

Some new ways to capitalize on an old truth: When you begin with your students' own interests, they'll learn faster and remember more. (Editor)

Written for the third- and fourth-grade levels, this workbook gives students practice in using context clues and reading comprehension to apply punctuation rules, as well as in carefully reading and following directions. Noting that the activities are based on the idea that punctuation is necessary to make written communication clear, the…

Written for children who are in the first four years of school, this handbook provides review and additional practice in language, grammar, and punctuation for students who may need such study. Younger children may need parental help in using the handbook, while older children may be able to read and understand the material for themselves.…

Intended for use by students at any level above grade one, this practice book is designed to familiarize students with the basic elements of a sentence. The practice book then proceeds to nouns and verbs, and then to capitalization and punctuation. The book is self-paced so that students may use it independently, and answers are provided for…

The test detailed in this document is designed to diagnose learning deficiencies in punctuation for grades three through seven and supplies the teacher with a list of specific teaching concepts which need to be taught to each child. The document contains a test description, directions for administration and scoring, two references, a sample of…

This workbook is designed as an introduction to the "Editor in Chief" series, which reinforces the rules of written English. In this workbook, student first review the rules of grammar and mechanics using multiple-choice questions; then the students learn to apply these rules in context by editing stories in a variety of formats. This "Beginning"…

A comparative study of students' scores in mechanics and usage on standardized tests and ratings of actual writing samples. (DD)