ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the grammatical concept of commas, punctuation marks that are placed within a sentence or a statement to separate pieces of information. It focuses on three kinds of comma use that align with the needs of early elementary school writers and many early elementary grade standards: commas that separate items in a series, commas used in dates, commas used in the greetings and closings of letters. The chapter describes these three types of comma usage and provides examples of each. After that, it discusses the importance of comma usage, explaining that commas are important to effective writing because they are used to organize and separate ideas and information. Next, the chapter presents a classroom snapshot section, which describes Kasey’s experiences teaching her students about commas. The chapter then provides key recommendations for teaching students about the concept of commas and a bulleted list of final thoughts on this topic. It concludes with a flowchart and two infographics that highlight important information and examples from the chapter.
