Sometimes the best way to teach something is to make it into a team competition. Break the class into two groups and line them up facing each other. Make a series of punctuation questions, such as, "What is the function of a semicolon?" or "What is the difference between a dash and a hyphen?" Ask the first player on both teams the first question. The first player to answer correctly wins a point for his team. Move down the line and ask a question to each pair. The team with the most points at the end wins.
Punctuation can drastically alter the meaning of a sentence. Distribute a properly punctuated paragraph to the class. Have students change the punctuation to change the paragraph's meaning. For example, they might change the phrase, "Children like vegetables. They taste great" to "Children: like vegetables, they taste. Great." Have students write or type their new paragraphs and read them to the class.
Apostrophes are among the most incorrectly used pieces of punctuation. Draw a large apostrophe on index cards and distribute them to the class. Read a sentence aloud that might or might not use an apostrophe, such as, "It's time to go outside." Ask students to raise their apostrophes in the air if they think the sentence has an apostrophe. Solicit reasons from students for why or why not an apostrophe is appropriate.
A variety of online games helps students learn the rules of punctuation. Familyeducationnetwork.com hosts an online game where players construct sentences with the proper punctuation. Players stack completed sentences on top of one another to build a city. Eduplace.com has a multiple choice game where players must choose the sentence that is punctuated correctly. Finally, Funenglishgames.com hosts an animated game where players must choose the proper piece of punctuation and "splat" it into the proper place in a sentence with a paint gun.