The punctuation pyramid, illustrated above, is a simple and highly effective tool for the development of punctuation. It has immediate impact on the accuracy of punctuation used by children writing at level 3 onwards, and stimulates experimentation needed at level 2 and above.
Each classroom has a large pyramid on display. Children are taught that each line of the pyramid represents one level, from Level 1 to Level 5. Punctuation marks are named by the teachers and examples of their use are modelled by teachers in literacy lessons, and children are encouraged to spot punctuation marks in the texts that they read. They are also asked to look at their own writing and assess which level they think they are working at and what punctuation marks they need to start using to reach the next level.
I think it would also be useful to let you know about National Curriculum Levels at this point: Level 2 is the level that the average child in Year 2 (6&7 year olds) reach, Level 3 is the level that the average child in Year 4 (8&9year olds) reach, and level 4 is the level that the average child in Year 6 (10&11 year olds) reach.
