struggling with commas

[Elizabeth86]

Any good sources for help with commas usage? 

[Xahm]

What age/level? And what's the problem? Comma usage is one of those frustrating areas that lacks consensus in certain aspects, so if you have a particular standard you want to require, you'll need to make sure the resource you use doesn't conflict with that.

[lulalu]

We worked on commas with dictation a lot. That seemed to help cement the concepts we were learning. I just pulled from read alouds and ds' individual reading. 

We learned a lot of rules with our grammar (R&S). 

[Elizabeth86]

4 hours ago, Xahm said:

What age/level? And what's the problem? Comma usage is one of those frustrating areas that lacks consensus in certain aspects, so if you have a particular standard you want to require, you'll need to make sure the resource you use doesn't conflict with that.

😬😩😳It’s for me. I can’t use commas to save my life. All through school, I just corrected the papers teachers gave back to me and I never really can figure out how and when to use commas. It’s a bit embarrassing, but true. For the record, my 10 year seems to remember all we have learned in grammar about using commas. So, there’s that. I just can’t keep this in my memory.

Edited January 14, 2022 by Elizabeth86

[lmrich]

Fix-It explains comma usage, but you must have the teacher's manual and teach it directly. 

[Garga]

https://www.iue.edu/student-success/coursework/commas.html

[Elizabeth86]

10 minutes ago, Garga said:

https://www.iue.edu/student-success/coursework/commas.html

Thank you!

[Xahm]

Similar to the resource above, https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/punctuation/commas/index.html is a good resource for college/adult learners.

[goldenecho]

Semicolons, Cupcakes, and Cucumbers.    It's a fun book (my child WANTED to read it as a bedtime story...over and over), and I think adequately covers commas use in lists (but not so much as a pause in a sentence or other uses).

[EKS]

I like the way MCT presents clause punctuation.  Hake Grammar is good for the details, but not so good if all you want is comma stuff.

Note that you can't understand punctuation if you don't understand grammar, so if the student hasn't had much in the way of grammar, that should be the focus of the teaching.  The idea that commas go where there is a "pause" is idiotic and was invented by folks who wanted to circumvent grammar instruction.

Edited January 27, 2022 by EKS

[Ellie]

1 hour ago, EKS said:

Note that you can't understand punctuation if you don't understand grammar, so if the student hasn't had much in the way of grammar, that should be the focus of the teaching.  The idea that commas go where there is a "pause" is idiotic and was invented by folks who wanted to circumvent grammar instruction.

This is oh, so true, all of it.

My go-to is Easy Grammar, because it's so direct, and it's *only* grammar. 

[knitgrl]

I know someone here on the forum has suggested this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1877673382/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_6?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

 

ETA - I threw it on an amazon list, in case it was something we need in the future. I have not used it myself.

ETA2 - I probably didn't need to use the comma in the above sentence.

Edited January 27, 2022 by knitgrl

[LauraClark]

I'm using Junior Analytical Grammar: Mechanics with ds10, and it is a good source of when to use commas. Commas are a struggle I have too, and it has clarified some things for me (not that I use them correctly now, ha, but I could find the errors if you told me how many to look for).