No progress in terms of acknowledging punctauation when reading

[lecce]

Just looking for some tips for encouraging ds (Yr1) to pause properly when he sees a full-stop. He does it sometimes, but often doesn't. Even when the new sentence is in a new paragraph he can still ignore it and carry straight on.

It is annoying now as we have been working on this since the summer, if not before. He is on purple level books (has been since October) and reads them pretty fluently and can discuss the story afterwards. I would say his comprehension is good but surely a child on this level should not be swallowing his full-stops like this?

I have had some doubts about the way the school teaches reading, tbh. He couldn't read before he started and seemed to click with it in the spring term of Year R. At that point he jumped straight from yellow band to turquoise but has only moved one level since then. I have been wondering if some of the basics have been missed. The person who changes his books and decides the level is not his teacher but a ta who ds says he never works with (I do realise I this may be untrue and there is nothing to say that there is no communication between her and those who do work with him). He has only read one-to-one at school twice in the whole time he has been there, though he does guided reading and reads aloud in that.

Just wondering what I can do do help (snapping, "ds, there is a full-stop there!" doesn't seem to be working ).

[learnandsay]

Full stops might mean a lot to you. They clearly do. But I can't think why they should mean very much to him. It's only a mark on a piece of paper. If you want him to have a high regard for full stops you have to give him one. Maybe make up a story about a time before full stops when all the words used to crash into one another and the king ordered somebody to invent the full stop. And then write sentences with him and make a big deal about each full stop. Discuss full stops and other punctuation marks too. I should expect that after you've impressed upon him how wonderful and important they are he'll start paying attention to them. My daughter does.

[wigglywoowoo]

I practice this with my DD, where for a page or two (dependant on the book) we will read alternate sentences. DD enjoys this and I think it is good as when I'm reading she then has to follow read what is on the page and read on smoothly from the start of the next sentence and when it is her turn, remember to stop at the full stops so that I can read on. I think it has really helped her as while checking for full stops she now see the comma's and her reading seems to be more structured. She is also in year 1 and currently reading at white level.

[EqualsX]

Alternate sentences is a good idea.

Have you tried taking a look at some simple rhyming poetry, and encouraging him to take pauses in order to hear the rhyme? It's not full-stop specific obviously, but it might get him to slow down a little and appreciate the way his reading sounds to a listener.

[maizieD]

Does he like reading aloud to you? Does he enjoy the stories? He might just be too bored to bother!

Do you read to him with lots of expression? (perhaps that question should have come first!) He might need to understand how expression can make a story more interesting for the listener. Punctuation is really just clues as to how the author would like their work to 'sound', would he be responsive to that sort of explanation?

[lecce]

Thanks for all the replies - some good ideas for me to try.

Maizie he doesn't like reading to me, no, though he does love us reading to him and reading his own books alone in bed after bedtime story. I just don't think he enjoys the act of reading aloud and, strangely, the more he likes a book, the less inclined he is to read it aloud . I don't think he particularly likes his books from school, though he doesn't hate them but, yes, it does seem like he just doesn't bother because he is bored or tired.

I do read with lots of expression - I love reading to the dc and I really think I have set a good example - dodgy accents notwithstanding . Often his expression is excellent - he certainly doesn't read in a monotone drone. It is just the swallowing of some full-stops that is the problem.

[Missbopeep]

He's very young...I've taught 15 year olds who still ignore all punctuation when they read

I'd go along with reading a sentence each for a start and try to link full stops in reading with his own writing so he can understand the purpose.

[ilikenoodles]

I am having the same problem with my son although the last few times have been an improvement.

I think WIGGLYWOOWOO had some great advise and I will start doing that with my son, for him, it's more an issue of changing his voice when someone is speaking in the book but he's coming along. i think!

[lecce]

Missbopeep me too. This is probably the reason that, as learnandsay pointed out, full-stops mean a lot to me .