Use visual aids to teach your first grader about capitalizing the beginning letter of sentences and ending them with a period or proper punctuation. Use a three-layer cookie, cake or other treat the first grader is familiar with. Explain that sentences are like the three-layer treat and need a top, which is the capital; a middle, which is the sentence; and a bottom, which is the ending mark. Together the three layers create a tasty or yummy sentence. Hang a large picture of the snack to use as a constant reminder of a properly structured sentence.
Play a game with a class of first graders divided into two groups. Hold up a sentence on a large sentence strip that's missing the ending mark. Each team should have access to large ending marks. When the teach says "go," the designated member from each team should take the appropriate ending mark to the front of the class and stand at the end of the sentence strip. Ask the students to explain why they chose the punctuation they did. Turn it into a racing game if it would add to their excitement.
Saying, singing and acting out lessons can help first graders retain what they are being taught. Choose an act for capitals, such as asking the children to put their hands in their air at the beginning of the sentence and stomp at the end of the sentence and say "period!" They can tap their fingers once after a comma and twice after a period to learn the "pause" for the comma and the "stop" for the period in a quieter way. Alternatively, make specific sounds to denote the punctuation when you're reading to the first graders. Smack your lips when you come to a period, say "hmmm" at commas, say "huh?" after a question mark and "woah!" at an exclamation mark. Practice punctuation while walking by stopping at periods, pausing at commas, shrugging at question marks and throwing your hands in the air for exclamation marks. Air quotation marks with two fingers can signify quotes.
Write one or two sentences on the board before class begins without punctuation or capitals. Ask the first graders to copy the sentences with corrections into their journals. Add a small dot sticker to their journals if they remembered to add the period.
Emphasize the importance of quotes by asking selecting quotes from the children's favorite books. Ask each student to rewrite the quote on sentence strips and glue elbow macaroni where quotation marks or apostrophes go. Ask the class to read the quote out loud and name the punctuation marks.
Ask the children to copy sentences into their journals or on sentence strips. Each child should take out two crayons, either green and red or any two colors you choose. Ask the class to circle the first letter in each sentence with a specific color, such as green, which is commonly associated with "go." The children can circle the ending marks with red, which typically means "stop." Seeing the colors can help the children pause between sentences when reading their work aloud.