• Students separate the greeting of letters and emails from the body of the text using commas. 

• Students use commas to separate the closing of a letter and email from the text’s signature. 

• Students use commas to separate individual words in a series.

• Students use commas to indicate dialogue and separate it from the reported or narrated text 

• Teachers assess students’ prior knowledge of commas and review the uses of commas.

• Teachers explain and model how commas are used in letters and emails.

• Teachers explain and model how commas are used to separate words in a series or list.

• Teachers explain and model how to use commas to indicate dialogue.

• Teachers provide opportunities for students to practice using commas.

• Teachers monitor student work and provide opportunities for feedback.

When students fail to use commas correctly in friendly letters and emails, teachers can...

• utilize anchor charts, mentor texts, and interactive notebooks for reference.

• provide practice such as proofreading with manipulatives, missing punctuation work-mats with dry erase markers, and gallery walks.

When students struggle to add commas to indicate dialogue, teachers can…

• provide opportunities to analyze mentor texts that correctly show how commas indicate dialogue and compare with a model of the same text without commas.  Ask questions, such as:  How do the commas help the reader understand the text?

• utilize tactile activities and manipulatives that make the concept more concrete. 

• For example, students can add macaroni, magnets, or other manipulatives to sentences to show where the comma would go when indicating dialogue.

• 4.2.W.3: Edit drafts

• 4.8.W: Independent writing