Repeating capitalization and punctuation rules might seem monotonous to teachers and students, but frequent reinforcement is essential. Teachers should also keep rules displayed in a prominent area of the classroom for handy reference. Rules will get more complex as children progress through each grade, but they should be simply stated no matter the grade level.
Seeing examples of correct punctuation and capitalization usage will also help students. Teachers can copy pages of students' favorite books or magazines and get students to highlight capital letters at the beginning of sentences and end marks. This provides teachers an opportunity to emphasize that good writers don't forget to include these elements in their work.
Teachers can use incorrect punctuation and capitalization usage to emphasize its importance in writing. They can do this by projecting sentences or short passages with punctuation and capitalization errors and calling on students to find and state the corrections needed. Teachers can also show passages without any punctuation or capital letters and have students insert them.
Teachers can also use cooperative learning groups to get students to use capital letters and end marks. After students write paragraphs or short essays, teachers can divide the class into small groups of three to four. They will exchange papers and read and edit each others' work. Peer editing is an effective student-centered activity in which the teacher can take on the role of facilitator. Sometimes students respond better to help and criticism from other students.
Teachers can demonstrate end mark usage by reading aloud to the class. Since there are apparent voice tone changes for different kinds of sentences, students should be able to recognize this and indicate which punctuation mark to use. For example, the teacher can read a story to students and stop at the end of a few sentences and ask students which punctuation mark they think is written in the book. Teachers should include a few of each type of sentence end mark: declarative, imperative, exclamatory and interrogative. Students can also take turns reading aloud.