The Period Means Stop

Use the period at the end of a sentence as a signal to stop and take a breath.

A period is a small dot at the end of a sentence. It tells you the sentence is done. When you see a period, let your voice drop a little and take a short stop before the next sentence. Read these: 'Sam has a kite. It is blue.

' You stop after 'kite' and then start fresh with 'It is blue. ' If you ran past the period, it would sound like 'Sam has a kite it is blue,' which is hard to follow. Periods give the listener time to think about each idea.

• 1A period ends a telling sentence.
• 2Stop and let your voice drop at a period.
• 3Stopping helps listeners follow each idea.