Teaching commas in a series is an important grammar skill for kids to learn. However, thinking of creative and engaging activities for your lesson plan can be a real headache! Luckily, we have sourced the best activities for teaching lessons on commas- making your job a whole lot easier! Let’s take a look at 18 commas in a series of activities for kids.
1. Sentence Cards
This simple activity teaches the skill of where to place commas. Onto strips of paper, print simple sentences that incorporate commas. Laminate these and hand out 5 sentences to each student. Using a wipeable marker, students must mark the sentence where the commas should go.
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2. Student Sentences
This versatile activity is suitable for kids in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades. Give your students a word that belongs to a sentence requiring commas. Students must hold their words up in the correct order. They must then work together to nominate other students to come up and be the commas. The commas must put themselves in the correct place on the line!
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3. Commas in a Date
These punctuation worksheets come with separate date cards and worksheets that students must complete by putting commas in the right place. With several cards in the pack, students will have plenty to get through. This works great as a starter activity when teaching correct comma usage!
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4. Interactive Anchor Charts
Teach the skill of commas with this fun anchor chart. It’s a great tool for teaching correct comma placement! Teachers will write sentences that contain items in a series. Then, students can use the chart to locate where each comma belongs; adding it in marker pen. A top activity for comma practice!
Learn More: Elementary Nest
5. Commas for Lists Song
This super fun song breaks down the rules of grammar usage and allows kids to listen, learn, and even bust a dance move or two! Kids learn through rhyme and will be singing this catchy tune when they need to remember where the commas go in a list!
Learn More: MC Grammar
6. Pasta Commas
Provide each table with a small bowl of macaroni. Each student should have three or four laminated sentence cards with commas missing. Learners must then use their pasta as commas and add these to their sentence cards.
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7. Comma Stick Puppets
For this quick reinforcement activity, you will need some popsicle sticks, paper, colored pencils, a whiteboard, and a pen. Draw out some cartoon punctuation marks and glue them on top of your sticks. Keep these in a pot near your whiteboard. On the whiteboard, write a few sentences that require punctuation marks. Students will then need to hold their sticks in the right places!
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8. If I Were a Comma
Have your kids brainstorm where they would see commas as a reader and where they would use them as a writer. Fold a piece of paper into four and have them write down four ideas. Then get them to make a host of sweet comma puppets to use in future lessons.
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9. Let’s Separate Things
This worksheet about comma usage aims to educate kids on how commas are used to separate things in a list. The aim here is to carefully read each sentence and then the students can add commas where they think they should go!
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10. Mama Comma and the Soup Drama
If you need book suggestions for teaching commas, look no further than Momma Comma! She aims to slow down her friends and help them organize themselves.
Learn More: Amazon
11. Roll a Question
Roll the dice to see which question you will have to answer! Students take turns throwing the dice and reading the question carefully. They then write the correct comma placement underneath the question.
Learn More: Live Worksheets
12. Play Dough Commas
Fantastic for a hands-on learning experience from pre-K to 3rd grade! Print a few sentences that require commas and laminate. Provide each student with a small amount of play dough. Students must then use their play dough to make commas and add these to their sentences in the correct places!
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13. Punctuation Jenga
In this game, students roll the colored dice and select a card displaying that color. They carefully read the question, and then each person in the group can have a go at answering it.
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14. Handy Comma Keyring
These eye-catching grammar rules posters can be printed any size and laminated to make handy keyrings for your students. These serve as great reminders of grammar skills. They can also be kept on desks to help students know when we need to place commas in a series.
Learn More: Treetop Teaching
15. Rules about Commas
These fun posters are a great idea to complete when you have been learning about comma rules. Go over the rules with your kids and have them make colorful posters that depict the correct usage.
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16. Help Me Out
Hand out a mini whiteboard and marker to each of your kids. Write down a sentence on the board with no commas. Ask them if they can help you by re-writing the sentence on their board and placing commas in the correct place.
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17. Gallery Comma Walk
A great interactive activity for understanding commas! Place several sentences and lists around the room for students to view. The aim is to travel around the room; re-writing these with the correct comma placement. After about 5 minutes, ask your students to be seated and go over the correct answers as a group.
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18. Comma Chameleon
Solidify an understanding of commas by using a fun poster that suggests that commas are like chameleons; they should effortlessly blend into a sentence or list. Have your students re-create this poster by drawing inspiration from it to create their own.
Learn More: Pinterest
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