An excellent strategy for teaching punctuation is to train students to "hear" the natural pauses in writing. As part of his language arts program first published in the 1970s, James Moffett (1968, 1992) developed a punctuation program based on listening. Students silently marked unpunctuated passages while hearing them being read either on tape or by the teacher.

          Try this with your students. Distribute copies of Dawson's punctuation hierarchy shown earlier in the chapter and copies of the passages below. Ask students to place marks where they "hear" pauses and stops as you read the passages A1 and B1 aloud, using the hierarchy as a guide.

Passage A1

          We read and studied out of doors preferring the sunlit woods to the house all my early lessons have in them the breath of the woods the fine, resinous odor of pine needles blended with the perfume of wild grapes seated in the gracious shade of a tulip tree I learned to think that everything has a lesson and a suggestion. The loveliness of things taught me all their use indeed, everything that could hum or buzz or sing or bloom had a part in my education noisy-throated frogs katydids and crickets held in my hand I felt the bursting cotton-bolls and fingered their soft fiber and fuzzy seeds I felt the low soughing of the wind through the cornstalks the silky rustling of the long leaves and the indignant snort of my pony as we caught him in the pasture and put the bit in his mouth ah me how well I remember the spicy clovery smell of his breath


Passage A2 (Punctuated)

          We read and studied out of doors, preferring the sunlit woods to the house. All my early lessons have in them the breath of the woods---the fine, resinous odor of pine needles, blended with the perfume of wild grapes. Seated in the gracious shade of a tulip tree, I learned to think that everything has a lesson and a suggestion. The loveliness of things taught me all their use. Indeed, everything that could hum, or buzz, or sing, or bloom, had a part in my education---noisy-throated frogs, katydids and crickets held in my hand. ... I felt the bursting cotton-bolls and fingered their soft fiber and fuzzy seeds; I felt the low soughing of the wind through the cornstalks, the silky rustling of the long leaves, and the indignant snort of my pony, as we caught him in the pasture and put the bit in his mouth---ah me! How well I remember the spicy, clovery smell of his breath! --- Helen Keller


Passage B1

          Of course the ordinary soldiers didn't have much fun for one thing there was the snow it came down in a great blizzard about a week after the troops had started to build their encampment their huts were not finished and they were forced to work in bitter cold and storm the cold was a problem the huts were really just tiny log cabins with big stone fireplaces making the whole rear wall in cold weather they had a lot of trouble getting the mortar to set because of this the chimneys leaked so badly that half the smoke blew back into the room the snow made hewing wood difficult, too Sam told us that they were having an awful time getting the huts finished even when they were done they weren't much to live in twelve soldiers jammed into a 14 by 16 room breathing more smoke than air and having to stumble over people whenever they wanted to move around and the snow never stopped falling by January it covered the countryside three feet deep so that the stone walls disappeared you could drive a sled over the snow anywhere you wanted without paying attention to where the roads were.


Passage B2 (Punctuated)

          Of course the ordinary soldiers didn't have much fun. For one thing there was the snow. It came down in a great blizzard about a week after the troops had started to build their encampment. Their huts were not finished, and they were forced to work in bitter cold and storm. The cold was a problem. The huts were really just tiny log cabins with big stone fireplaces making the whole rear wall. In cold weather they had a lot of trouble getting the mortar to set. Because of this the chimneys leaked so badly that half the smoke blew back into the room. The snow made hewing wood difficult, too. Sam told us that they were having an awful time getting the huts finished. Even when they were done they weren't much to live in---twelve soldiers jammed into a 14 by 16 room, breathing more smoke than air and having to stumble over people whenever they wanted to move around. And the snow never stopped falling. By January it covered the countryside three feet deep, so that the stone walls disappeared. You could drive a sled over the snow anywhere you wanted without paying attention to where the roads were. --- James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier