Teaching Punctuation | Middle School ELA Writing Mini Lessons

Make punctuation FUN with these interactive writing mini lessons for Middle School ELA.

One of my favorite additions to my middle school classroom routines has been my Write Bites mini lessons.

These lessons teach important writing skills, but they also give my middle school students a much needed brain break with movement and noise.

Often our middle school students come to us thinking that punctuation is boring or difficult, but it does NOT have to be that way.

✨This fully editable slide deck includes 137 teaching slides to show students (in an interactive, kinesthetic, FUN way) how to use punctuation correctly in their writing.✨

How does it work?

For each punctuation skill or term, students view . . .

➡️A slide that explains the CORRECT way to write

➡️A slide that explains what NOT to do

➡️3 Example slides with instructions for how to vote on whether the example is CORRECT or INCORRECT - these voting instructions are often active, a bit noisy, or even silly

➡️Answer slides

These interactive mini lessons break up the monotony of a typical slide presentation. Students actually look forward to the writing lesson each day!

Which punctuation topics are included in this slide deck?

• Commas
  • Commas with items in a series
  • Commas with introductory phrases and clauses
  • Commas separating adjectives
  • Commas with parenthetical phrases
  • Commas with dates
  • Commas with locations and addresses
  • Commas for direct address
  • Commas with personal and professional titles
  • Commas with independent clauses and FANBOYS
  • Commas with subordinating conjunctions and SWABIs
  • Commas with nonrestrictive clauses

• Quotation marks
  • Quotation marks with dialogue
  • Quotations within quotations

• Apostrophes
  • Apostrophes for possession
  • Apostrophes for contractions

• Semicolons
  • Semicolons with lists
  • Semicolons with independent clauses

• Hyphens

Does your school use different terminology?

Maybe you have students with physical limitations?

✨Don't worry! All 137 slides are completely editable in Canva so they can meet your students' specific needs.✨

Don't have a Canva account? You can sign up for free!

What will I receive if I purchase these writing lessons?

You will receive a pdf with a link to a Canva document that includes all 137 writing slides. When you click on that link, you will be directed to edit that template. You can use the slides as they are or edit them to meet your needs.