Punctuation Teaching Resources

Teach students how to use punctuation marks in their writing this school year with printable worksheets, fun writing games, instructional slide decks and more elementary school teaching resources designed to help extend and help students learn how to punctuate their writing to be more clear and understandable.

Our teacher team has created this extensive collection of teaching resources for teachers like you to teach these important writing tools. Aligned to the Common Core curriculum, the ELA collection includes editable worksheets and teaching presentations and more to save you time on lesson planning.

Created by expert teachers, each resource in this capitalization collection has been carefully reviewed and curated by our team. That means it's ready to use in the classroom! You'll even find editable resources, plus differentiated options.

New to teaching this part of the ELA curriculum, or just looking for fresh ways to engage your students? Read on for a primer from our teaching team, including some answers to tricky punctuation questions from kids!

What Is Punctuation? A Kid-Friendly Definition

Teaching punctuation may matter now more than ever as texting and other digital forms of communication become ever more common. So let's get started with a definition!

Here's a way to explain what punctuation means to your students in a kid-friendly manner.

Punctuation is a set of marks we use to help make our writing clearer and easier to read.

When we speak, we pause, change our tone of voice or take a breath. Writing is a lot like that, but instead of the quiet that comes when a speaker pauses, punctuation marks are the tools a writer uses to tell readers when to pause.

Punctuation Marks

The symbols we use for punctuation are called punctuation marks, and there are more than a dozen different ones in English.

Each one has its own name and important use in writing, but elementary students only learn about 14 to 16 as they embark on their early writing adventures.

Let's take a look at them, along with some examples of how they can be used!

Period (.)

Sometimes called a full stop, a period looks like a little dot. We use this punctuation mark to end a sentence that is a statement or a command.

• Example: "My favorite food is pizza."

Question Mark (?)

The question mark looks like a period with a squiggly line on top of it. We use a question mark to end a sentence that is a question.

• Example: "What is your favorite color?"

The period with a squiggly line on top of it is the symbol for punctuating a question.

Exclamation Point (!)

The exclamation point looks like a period with a straight line on top of it. We use an exclamation point to show strong emotion or emphasis.

• Example: "Our t-ball team won the game!"

Commas (,)

Commas look like little hooks next to a word in writing. Writers use commas to separate items in a list or to separate clauses in a sentence.

• Examples: "I need to buy apples, bananas and oranges." "After I finish my homework, I will play outside."

Apostrophe (')

An apostrophe looks like a comma suspended in the air. This symbol can be used in writing to show possession or to shorten a word.

• Example: "The cat's toy rolled under the couch."

Quotation Mark (")

Quotation marks look like two commas inverted in the air. This punctuation mark is used to show that someone is speaking or to show the title of a book or movie.

Example: "I'm hungry," the girl said to the boy.

Colon (:)

The punctuation mark symbolized by two dots on top of one another is the colon. Writers can use a colon to introduce a list or an explanation.

• Example: "I need three things for my science experiment: a battery, a wire and a nail."

Semicolon (;)

The semicolon looks like a comma with a dot on top. This symbol is used to separate two closely related independent clauses.

• Example: "I like playing soccer; my brother prefers basketball."

Parentheses ()

We use parentheses to set off additional information within a sentence.

• Example: "My dog (Max) loves to play fetch."

Hyphen (-)

Respresented by a short line, writers use a hyphen to connect two words to make a compound word or to separate syllables at the end of a line.

• Example: "short-sleeved shirt"

Confusing Punctuation Rules

Some punctuation rules are straight-forward and relatively easy, but others can get complicated — even for the most attentive students. Here are some of the rules that tend to trip up students!

Does Punctuation Go Inside Parentheses?

This is a tricky one for students because there is no tried and true answer! The rule comes down to context and the punctuation mark used.

Whether punctuation goes inside or outside parentheses depends on the context and the type of punctuation.

• When Punctuation Goes Inside the Parentheses — Commas, periods and other punctuation marks generally go inside when they are part of the sentence within the parentheses.
• When Punctuation Goes Outside the Parentheses — Punctuation marks go outside when they are part of the sentence outside the parentheses. For example, when parentheses are used at the end of a sentence, the period (if there is one) goes outside the parentheses.

Does Punctuation Go Inside Quotation Marks?

Punctuating sentences correctly can be tough for young writers when using quotation marks because — once again — the rules change, depending on the circumstance!

In American English, the general rule is to place most punctuation marks inside the closing quotation marks. Still, there are some exceptions!

Here are some more common rules to go by:

• When Punctuation Goes Inside the Question Mark — Commas, periods and other punctuation marks generally go inside when they are part of the sentence within the parentheses.
• When Punctuation Goes Outside the Question Mark — Punctuation marks go when the writer uses single quotes within double quotes. In that case, single quotes will be used for the quoted material inside the double quotes. Confused? This example may help! She said, "My favorite book is 'Frog and Toad'."