Read it out loud

My sixth-grade son, George, has a terrible time with run-on sentences. I am teaching him the simplest tool available for catching the commas, semi-colons and periods -- read it out loud.

Every time George takes a breath while reading, I tell him to stop. What punctuation is needed there? Because that's what punctuation is...a breath when we speak. For now, we are sticking with the simple stuff. But, as he advances in his writing, he will learn to take advantage of dashes and ellipses.

And this tool is not just for middle-schoolers. When I was a newsroom editor, I would have the reporters read their copy out loud. It is a great way to catch typos and check for clarity. Remember this: If it doesn't sound right when you speak it, you need to change it.