Today is rung 9 of 12 on this topic
Sentences that hold together
Can do: Writes complete sentences with a capital, a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark, and correct spacing.
Why it matters
Punctuation is not decoration — it's how the writer tells the reader where to breathe. It is also the first thing marked in every year that follows.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
One enormous run-on joined by "and then", or capitals dropped in randomly mid-word.
⏱️ Two-minute check
"Write two sentences about your day — one that tells and one that asks."
Solid looks like: Both start with a capital and end with the right mark, with visible spaces.
The full activity for this topic · 10 minutes
Punctuation Police
- 1You write three sentences with deliberate mistakes — no capital, no stop, no spaces.
- 2They put on the police hat and fix them with the red pencil.
- 3Now they write two of their own and check them with the same rules.
- 4Read their sentence aloud in one breath, ignoring the missing stop, so they hear why it's needed.
- 5Add a question sentence, since question marks are almost always the last to stick.
If it's too hard
Give them the sentence written correctly and have them copy it, then find the capital and the stop.
If it's too easy
Add an exclamation and a comma in a list: "I like apples, pears and cake."
Say this
"Read it out loud in one breath. Hear how you ran out of air? That's where the full stop goes."