Kindergarten - ELA
1: Letters
Unit 13: P - Harold and the Purple Crayon
Lesson 1
Day 1
The lesson's Skills list explicitly includes the objective "Recognize and name end punctuation." The Reading and Questions section contains multiple printed questions (QUESTION #1 - #3) that use question marks and ask students to read and answer them. These elements show student exposure to end punctuation in the materials and an explicit learning goal.
Lesson 5
Day 5
Students are shown that the little dot at the end of every sentence is called a period and told it means the sentence is over. Students trace sentences from left to right and point out the periods at the ends of the sentences. Students tap the period with their pointer finger when they reach it during independent reading. Students circle periods in their dictated writing during the writing workshop.
Unit 14: B - Blueberries for Sal
Lesson 5
Day 5
In Activity 3 (Writing Workshop) caregivers are instructed to offer one age-appropriate suggestion such as "adding a period," which explicitly references an end punctuation mark. The activity asks adults to edit the child's writing and suggest punctuation changes, implying students may encounter and be prompted to use a period when revising. The guidance also invites children to dictate or write and then receive feedback that can include punctuation suggestions.
Unit 15: R - Rain
Lesson 2
Day 2
Students write short sentences starting with "I see..." in the rainbow book activity and fill-in-the-blank student page, where each example sentence is presented with end punctuation (periods). The instructions suggest writing the words for the child to copy, which exposes students to sentences that include end punctuation. The handwriting and sentence-copying tasks require students to produce complete sentences that end with a punctuation mark.
Unit 16: N - Night in the Country
Lesson 1
Day 1
Students read and discuss Night in the Country and answer written prompts that are presented as questions (e.g., "How do you feel about nighttime? Why?") which display question-mark end punctuation. The lesson includes multiple teacher prompts and QUESTIONS that use question marks, and children verbally respond to those prompts during reading and discussion. Students also write or speak equations and short answers, exposing them to sentence-ending punctuation in printed and spoken forms.
Unit 19: J - Jump Frog Jump
Lesson 1
Day 1
The lesson's Skills list explicitly includes the objective "Recognize and name end punctuation." Students read aloud and answer multiple teacher prompts that include question marks (e.g., QUESTION #1–#4) and periods in captions and sentences on the activity pages. The Student Activity Pages present many short sentences and captions that end with periods, question marks, and an exclamation point ("Jump, Frog, jump!") that students can observe while sequencing events.
Lesson 3
Day 3
Students read sentences from the book that include end punctuation, for example being asked to read the sentence "How did the frog get away?" and the line "Jump, frog, jump!" on a second reading. The lesson has students point to and read specific words and phrases within those punctuated sentences during guided reading.
Lesson 5
Day 5
In Activity 2 students are shown the repeating sentence "How will frog get away?" and are asked to look at and identify the question mark at the end of the sentence. Students are told what the question mark is called and that it shows the sentence is a question, and they practice asking and answering oral questions that are said to end with question marks when written. In Activity 3 students are prompted to write a question about an animal, to use a question mark at the bottom of the page, and to practice writing question marks on other lines.
Unit 21: V - Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin
Lesson 5
Day 5
During Writing Workshop, students read their writing aloud and a caregiver is instructed to point out features of the writing, with an explicit example: noticing "appropriate capitalization or punctuation at the end of a sentence." Students are prompted to read their work back or have it read to them, which gives them exposure to end-of-sentence punctuation in their own text.
2: Holidays
Unit 27: Halloween
Lesson 3
Day 3
Students trace the words "Boo!" and "Happy Halloween!" on the greeting card, explicitly reproducing the printed exclamation points. The lesson includes sample printed text in the image and greeting that shows end punctuation (e.g., "BOO!", "Happy Halloween!", and "Trick or treat!"). The reading activity asks the child to join in at the ends of lines during Goodnight Goon, providing exposure to sentence endings in print.
Unit 29: Christmas
Lesson 1
Day 1
The lesson includes multiple teacher prompts written as questions (e.g., "Ask him what he notices about the book. Ask him to predict what the book will be about." and the "Questions to Explore" section uses question sentences). The Reading and Questions section directs the child to answer prompts and think about illustrations, and the Web Link activity asks the child "what three things he learned," all of which present question forms with question marks.
Unit 30: February Celebrations
Lesson 5
Day 5
Students are instructed to create valentines and write the message "I love you" on the front of the card. The valentine image text includes the word "You!" which displays an exclamation point. On the back of the card students are told to write "TO: _______________" and "LOVE, _______________", exposing them to a colon and a comma in written context.
2: Similarities and Differences
Unit 1: Amazing Attributes
Lesson 5
How Old?
The lesson tells students that a sentence that is a question starts with a capital letter and ends with a question mark and instructs them to practice writing question marks. Students are asked to reread questions and the text directs them to point out the question marks at the end of each sentence. Activities ask students to write questions for pictured people and to record those questions, reinforcing use of question-ending punctuation.
3: Patterns
Unit 1: Identifying and Creating Visual Patterns
Lesson 3
What Comes Next?
In Activity 4, students write or copy a sentence that asks a question: "What do you see after the ________?". The activity explicitly reviews the fact that sentences that ask questions end in question marks. Students are prompted to produce a question sentence, providing practice in using and identifying the question mark.
Unit 2: Patterns in Sounds, Words, and Actions
Lesson 4
Sentence Patterns
Students are told that sentences start with a capital letter and end with punctuation, such as a period. Students are asked to read sentences in picture books and point to the beginning letters and the periods in a few sentences. Activities prompt students to copy or write simple sentences and to look for and point out periods when identifying sentences in text.
Unit 3: Patterns in Your World
Lesson 9
Counting Patterns
Students are asked to write or dictate and then copy a sentence about the clowns and are instructed to have a capital letter at the start and to end the sentence with a period. The handwriting directions explicitly state to "reinforce the fact that a sentence ... ends with a period," giving students a chance to place and recognize a period at sentence end.
4: Change
Unit 3: A First Look at History - Change Over Time
Lesson 7
People of the Past
Students read biography passages and answer teacher prompts written as questions (e.g., "Did this person live in the past..."), so they encounter question marks in context. The "People in History" activity presents sentences and descriptions that use periods and question marks. Activity 4 asks students to write a sentence on handwriting paper about a historical person, giving them practice producing end punctuation.
6: Reading
Unit 1: Semester 1
Lesson 1
Letter Sounds Review I
Students are asked to identify sentences and to point to and circle a period and an exclamation point in the Weekly Message (Activity 1.1). The facts/definitions section names a period and an exclamation point and explains their functions. In Activity 1.1 students reread the message and practice reading the exclamation with feeling after the exclamation point is highlighted.
Lesson 2
Letter Sounds Review II
Students are asked to find and circle a period and a question mark in the weekly message (Activity 1.1), with the teacher explicitly naming the period, question mark, and exclamation point when discussing sentence endings. Later (Activity 5.3) students are directed to point to the period and the question mark in the reader and are told that sentences end with periods, question marks, or exclamation points. Students also practice reading questions with rising intonation while the teacher models the connection between the question mark and how a question sounds.
Lesson 3
Letter Sounds Review III
In Activity 1.1 students are asked to identify the end marks in the Weekly Message by pointing to and circling the period and the question mark. Activity 1.1 also directs the student to distinguish those marks from another punctuation (a colon) by asking about it. In Activity 5.3 students read completed sentences and are asked, "What do all of these sentences end with? What do we call that?" (a period), prompting them to name the period as end punctuation.
Lesson 4
Letter Sounds Review IV
In Activity 1.1 students are asked, "How many sentences does this message have? To find out, look at the end marks for each sentence. Do you see a period? An exclamation point? A question mark?" Students are instructed to circle each of these end marks in different colors so they can see there are three sentences in the message. This activity explicitly names the period, exclamation point, and question mark and has students identify them in text.
Lesson 5
Adding s, More Word Families, Ending with ck
In Activity 1.1 students are asked to circle the period, exclamation point, and question mark in the Weekly Message and answer questions about what each mark does. The teacher models reading the exclamation sentence loudly and the question sentence with rising intonation so students connect punctuation to meaning. In Activity 5.3 the teacher reminds students that dictated sentences end with periods, reinforcing recognition of end punctuation in writing.
Lesson 6
Open Syllables and Digraph th
In Activity 5.2, students are asked to identify exclamation points on the last page of the reader and are told that the exclamation point tells them to read the word loudly and with feeling. In Activity 5.3, students are reminded that sentences end with periods and are told to write dictated sentences that end with periods. The lesson uses the names "exclamation points" and "periods" when directing students' attention to those marks.
Lesson 7
Consonant Digraphs ch, sh, wh, ph
The lesson tells students during Sentence Dictation to write sentences and explicitly states, "Explain that these sentences end with periods." Students are reminded that sentences begin with uppercase letters and to leave spaces between words, and they read sentences that end with periods (e.g., "The moth is on the dish."). The skills list also includes "Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence," which supports attention to sentence boundaries and end marks.
Lesson 8
Blends with s
In Activity 1.1 students are asked to find and circle a period in one color and an exclamation point in another color in the Weekly Message, which requires them to identify those end punctuation marks. In Activity 5.2 students are told to think about how sentences begin and end and are explicitly told that the dictated sentences end with periods; they then read the sentences after writing them. The Skills list also notes that students should "Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence," which supports practice noticing sentence boundaries and endings.
Lesson 9
Blends with l
In Activity 1.1 students are asked to circle the periods in one color and circle the question mark in another color after reading the Weekly Message. Activity 5.2 and other directions remind students to "think about how sentences begin and end," and students practice reading and writing sentences during dictation and making-sentences activities.
Lesson 10
Blends with r
Students are asked to circle the periods in the Weekly Message, directly marking end punctuation. Students are prompted to think about how sentences begin and end and then read sentences after dictation, which draws attention to sentence-final punctuation. Students write dictated sentences that end with periods, giving practice recognizing periods in context.
Lesson 11
Ending Blends
The Skills list includes "Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence," which directs attention to sentence boundaries. Activity 5.2 (Sentence Dictation) has students write full sentences and is accompanied by the instruction to "Remind your child to think about how sentences begin and end." Several reading activities (Weekly Message, Reader #11) require students to read or point to complete sentences aloud.
Lesson 12
Double ll, ss, ff, zz (FLOSS)
Students are asked to circle the end marks in Weekly Message #12 and answer "How many end marks are there, and what are they called?" (noting 3 periods and 1 exclamation point). Students are instructed when writing a sentence ("The bugs buzz.") to begin with an uppercase letter and end it with a period. Sentence-dictation and reminders to think about how sentences begin and end give students repeated practice attending to sentence-final punctuation.
Lesson 13
Glued Sounds ng and nk
The skills list includes "Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence," and Activity 5.3 has students write sentences that are read aloud and is explicit about telling students to "think about how sentences begin and end." Activity 5.2 reminds students that words beginning with an uppercase letter should start a sentence, and the dictated sentences provided include end punctuation (periods).
Lesson 14
Three-Letter Beginning Blends
The Skills list includes "Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence," and Activity 5.2 instructs students to "pay attention to how sentences begin and end" while writing dictated sentences. Students are asked to read sentences aloud after writing them, exposing them to sentence boundaries and end marks in context.
Lesson 15
More Ending Blends
Students are asked to write dictated sentences (Activity 5.1) and are reminded to "pay attention to how sentences begin and end," which requires noticing sentence boundaries. The skills list includes "Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence," and students read sentences aloud after writing them (Activity 5.1 and 5.2), exposing them to sentence-final marks in context.
Lesson 16
R-Controlled Vowels (ar)
Activity 5.3 instructs students to write dictated sentences and explicitly reminds them to pay attention to how sentences begin and end and that questions end with a question mark. The three dictated sentences are all questions, so students practice writing sentences that require a question mark. The lesson's skills list includes "Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence," supporting attention to sentence boundaries.
Lesson 17
Semester Review
The skills and review lists explicitly include recognizing distinguishing features of a sentence and "Ending sentences with periods, question marks, and exclamation points." Activity 3.2 (Sentence Dictation) has students write dictated sentences and reminds them to pay attention to how sentences begin and end. Students read the sentences aloud after writing, which gives practice with sentence endings and the punctuation that appears in those dictated sentences.
Unit 2: Semester 2
Lesson 1
Long Vowels a and i with Silent e
Students are instructed in Activity 5.2 to "pay attention to how sentences begin and end," and are specifically reminded that "questions end with a question mark." The dictation activity has students write and read two sentences, one a question (Will you bake a cake?) and one a declarative sentence (The kids bike on the path.), giving them exposure to end punctuation in context. The Skills list also includes "Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence," which prompts students to notice sentence boundaries.
Lesson 3
Hard and Soft c and g
The Skills list includes "Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence," indicating students are expected to attend to sentence structure. Activity 5.3 (Sentence Dictation) has students write two full sentences and is explicit: "Remind your child to pay attention to how sentences begin and end." Throughout the week students read and write sentences (e.g., reader #3 and dictated sentences) so they see sentence-final punctuation in context.
Lesson 4
More R-Controlled Vowels (er, ir, or, ur)
The Skills list includes "Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence" and "Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print," which relate to sentence boundaries. In Activity 5.3 (Sentence Dictation) students write dictated sentences and are told to "pay attention to how sentences begin and end," and then read the sentences aloud. Students also engage in reading and rereading sentences in multiple activities (reader reading, sentence reading after spelling test).
Lesson 6
Long e Spellings ee, ey, ea
The Skills list includes "Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence," and activities remind the child about sentence structure (e.g., "Remind him that words that begin with an uppercase letter should come at the beginning of a sentence"). Day 5 Activity 5.2 directs the child to "pay attention to how sentences begin and end" while writing dictated sentences. Multiple activities require reading and writing full sentences (Making Sentences, Sentence Dictation) which draw attention to sentence boundaries.
Lesson 7
Long i Spellings y, igh, ie
Students are asked to "pay attention to how sentences begin and end" during the Sentence Dictation activity and to read the sentences aloud after writing them. The skills list includes "Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence" and "Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print," which relate to noticing sentence boundaries and endings. Students write dictated sentences that end with periods, providing practice with sentence-final punctuation in context.
Lesson 8
Long o Spellings ow, oa, oe
The Skills list includes "Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence," which directs students to notice sentence structure. In Activity 5.2 students write dictated sentences and are told to "pay attention to how sentences begin and end," so students practice producing sentences and observing their boundaries. The sentence dictation and reading activities expose students to sentence-final punctuation because they read and write complete sentences (e.g., "The toad would float.").
Lesson 9
Long u Spellings ue, ew, ou
Students are asked to pay attention to how sentences begin and end during the Sentence Dictation activity, and they write dictated sentences such as "The goat can chew." and "Who has a clue?". Students read and reread the Weekly Message and readers, encountering sentences that end with question and declarative forms. Students are prompted to "remind her to pay attention to how sentences begin and end," which directs them to notice sentence boundaries and terminal forms.
Lesson 12
Other Vowel Sounds oi, oy
The skills list includes "Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence," and several activities ask students to form and read sentences (Activity 4.1 Making Sentences). Activity 5.2 Sentence Dictation directs students to "pay attention to how sentences begin and end" while they write dictated sentences. Students also read and respond to teacher questions (e.g., "What sound does the toy make?") and produce written sentences that end with periods.
Lesson 13
Other Vowel Sounds ou, ow
Students write two dictated sentences and are explicitly told to "pay attention to how sentences begin and end" (Activity 5.2). Students read the Weekly Message aloud and are asked to point to words and reread it (Activity 1.1, Wrapping Up), exposing them to sentences that include end punctuation (periods and exclamation points). The Skills list includes "Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence," which frames activities that work with sentence boundaries.
Lesson 17
Year-End Review
The lesson's skills list includes "Recognize the distinguishing features of a sentence," and the Introduction lists "Beginning and ending sentences." Activity 2.2 instructs the child to write one or two sentences for pictures and tells her to "think about how sentences begin and end." Example model sentences are provided (e.g., "The ducks are on the dock.") that include end punctuation.