Punctuation Memory

by Jenny Helms

Most people are familiar with the card game Memory: a game that many children play to test their skill at memorization. This fun card game can also be used to teach punctuation in a multi-level classroom.

Instead of using playing cards, make your own sentence/punctuation cards. On a poster board write as many sentences as you will want to use in the game. Determine what punctuation mark to leave out in each sentence. (You might choose to leave out a period, question mark, exclamation point, comma, semicolon, or colon.) Then, make separate punctuation cards. Cut out sentences and punctuation marks.

Once all the cards are made, the game is ready to be played. At least three people will be needed: two to play the game and another person to check their answers. All cards will be placed face down. The sentence cards should be spread out on one side and the punctuation cards should be spread out on another side. The first player will turn over one sentence card and then turn over one punctuation card looking for the correct punctuation card to match it. If that player gets a match, he/she keeps those two cards and goes again. If the player does not get a match, he/she puts the cards just drawn face down again, and the next player gets a turn. The scorekeeper will need to confirm if the match that has been made is right or wrong. The player with the most cards at the end wins.