I use this lesson a lot in my English class to review grammar, spelling, punctuation-ANYTHING! For this lesson, I will give you an example of Running Dictation-Punctuation.

1. Find a short paragraph that is easy to read for all of your students (i.e. this is not a good time to introduce new vocabulary). I like to use the homework given in English grammar text books that the students have to correct. It is also easy to make up your own short paragraph-and make it funny!!

2. Have the students form groups of two. One student is the “runner” the other is the “writer.” Place as many copies of the short paragraph as there are groups outside the classroom.

3. Make sure the students have enough room to run without getting hurt!

4. Tell the students that the runner goes out into the hall, reads a bit of the short paragraph, and comes back into the room to relay it to his/her partner as fast they can! (They should be sure to relay quietly so the other teams don’t hear them!) Continue this until the entire paragraph is written down.

5. As a team, correct the paragraph for punctuation (or spelling, or grammar or whatever!)

6. The first team to finish is the winner!!

EXTENSIONS: Have copies enough for every student in class of the “wrong” paragraph. The students can take it home and work on it there, using their text book to label the paragraph or “map” out the incorrectness by highlighting the wrong parts and writing the rule next to it….or the page number in their texts where the answer is.

or-

Have the groups have their own paragraphs that develop into a story that the class can later put together. This works great for poems-especially fun ones by Shel Silverstein!!

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Carrie Stradley

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