| HOME PAGE | APOSTROPHE | BRACKETS | COLON | COMMA | DASH |
| ELLIPSIS | EXCLAMATION POINT | HYPHEN | PARENTHESES | |
| PERIOD | QUESTION MARK | QUOTATION MARK | SEMICOLON |
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Contact Jeff Rubin for more information about punctuation (510) 724-9507 Jeff@NationalPunctuationDay.com |
Click on the punctuation images below
for information about each one.
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Think an ellipsis is when the moon moves in front of the sun?
National Punctuation Day®
supports March 4
National Grammar Day
Language is something to celebrate, and March 4 is the perfect day to do it. It’s not only a date, it’s an imperative: March forth on March 4 to speak well, write well, and help others do the same!
National Punctuation Day®
announces two adult and
two student contest winners
Here are the winning entries from the 2012 contest. Honorable mention goes to: (Adults) Jada Walters, Charlotte NC; Lori Swanberg, Fairfax, VA; Mike Hillman, Harrisburg PA;
Susan Mitchell, Altamonte Springs FL; and (Students) Costa Kendall and Nicole Korp (fourth-graders at Glen Grove School, Glenview, IL);
Shannon McCarthy, South Fork High School, Stuart, FL; Morgan Demkey, California State University, Chico; Julie Thomas,
San Jose Catholic School, Jacksonville, FL; Maddie Peckham, Sutton Middle School, Atlanta; Jackson Arn, sophomore, Columbia University, New York.
Thanks to these schools (and teachers, whose names are in parentheses) for participating in the contest: Alpha Omega Academy,
Huntsville, Texas (Joni Harsh); Annunciation Catholic School, Middleburg, FL (Melanie Love); California State University, Chico;
Central Private School, Baker, LA (Penny Kinchen); College of the Sequoias, Visalia, CA; Eastland Career Center, Groveport, OH;
Fresno (CA) City College (Katherine Luttrell); Glen Grove Elementary School, Glenview, IL (Dr. Jean Mahony); Hall High School,
West Hartford, CT (Kelly Fransen); Hillsborough Community College, Tampa, FL (Jessica McCormick); Holy Cross School, New Orleans (Dr. Kara Jacobi);
Hurley (WI) High School; Lake Washington Girls Middle School, Seattle (Eve McGough); La Quinta High School, Westchester, CA; South Fork High School,
Stuart, FL (Annabel Haskett); Mead Valley Elementary School, Perris, CA (Genevieve Lunt); Midland (MI) Public Schools;
Park Avenue Elementary School, Freehold, NJ; Pulaski (WI) High School (Lesa Wojahn); Sacred Heart Catholic School, Pinellas Park, FL (Christina Badman);
Saint Paul's School, Covington, LA (Brother Ray Bulliard); Saginaw Valley (MI) State University; San Jose Catholic School, Jacksonville, FL (Melanie Gray);
Sligo Adventist School, Takoma Park, MD (Yolande Melbourne); Smithville Middle School, Smithville, Missouri (Audra Baber); St. Joseph High School, Lakewood, CA;
Stockton (MO) School District; Sutton Middle School, Atlanta (Mark Thomas); Tulsa (OK) Community College; Vernon Center Middle School, Vernon, CT (Debbie Halpryn);
Wantagh (NY) High School (Deborah Arcuri); Washington-Lee High School, Arlington, VA (Sarah Congable and David Peters);
William Davies Middle School, Mays Landing, NJ (Daniel Weber).
We received hundreds of entries, most from the United States, but several from other countries. One thing is clear:
When comes to favorite presidential punctuation marks, as in elections, sometimes there is no clear mandate.
Every one of the 13 punctuation marks on this website received a presidential vote.
Winners received a box of punctuation goodies, including a National Punctuation Day® T-shirt.
The contest rules were: Write one paragraph with a maximum of three sentences using the following 13 punctuation marks
to explain which should be “presidential,” and why: apostrophe, brackets,
colon, comma, dash, ellipsis, exclamation point, hyphen, parentheses, period, question mark,
quotation mark, and semicolon. You may use a punctuation mark more than once, and there is no word limit.
Multiple entries are permitted. Entries with misspelled words, capitalization errors, run-on sentences, misplaced punctuation marks,
too many sentences and convoluted ideas, among other reasons, were disqualified. In 2011, 220 entries in our paragraph contest were received from the United States, the Netherlands, Malta, Canada, England, and India.
Click here to download the winning paragraphs from the 2011 contest. The New Yorker
The famous literary magazine’s weekly QUESTIONINGLY column poses a punctuation-themed
Twitter contest in honor of the ninth celebration of America’s only punctuation holiday.
QUESTIONINGLY: PUNCTUATION NATION Dumbest Sign of the Year On south Western Ave. in Chicago. Sent by Joanne Archibald.
Great punctuation video 2011 radio coverage of 8th annual
2011 newspaper and blog media coverage of 8th annual Missouri State Teachers Association: Why Punctuation?
Guest column by Jeff Rubin, founder of National Punctuation Day The Destin Log:
A punctilious punctuator’s pet peeves (first column, July 15) The Destin Log:
A punctilious punctuator’s pet peeves (second column, September 25) USA TODAY:
Contest: Do you know your punctuation? San Francisco Chronicle: Punctuation Paragraph Contest
Highlights 8th Annual National Punctuation Day, Sept. 24 St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Happy National Punctuation Day! Now use it correctly Baltimore Sun: On George Clooney and apostrophes Charlotte Observer.com—The Reading Life blog:
Punctuation geeks: A contest just for you North County Times (CA):
HUNNEMAN: Hyping the hyphen Detroit News:
Watch the punctuation: Its role in financial documents is crucial Florida Times-Union:
“Punctuation, (is) our; friend!” Dubuque (IA) Telegraph-Herald:
Editor’s notes: TH readers try to punctuate their way to glory Omaha World Herald: So you know Wilkes-Barre (PA) Times-Leader: Punctuation a thing of the past?
Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin: Prepare your pet peeves. Punctuation Day is fast approaching (first column, September 14)
Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin: I’m Just Sayin’: Today’s the day for perfect punctuation (second column, September 24) Beverly in Movieland: Punctilious about Punctuation New Jersey Today: Contest Highlights 8th Annual National Punctuation Day, Sept. 24
Saturday, September 24, 2011 Spokane (WA) Spokesman-Review Today is National Punctuation Day Pinole Patch: Write a Paragraph for National Punctuation Day El Cerrito Patch: A Day To Show Some Love for Punctuation Association Media & Publishing: It’s Cool to be a Comma The Writing Resource: Celebrate National Punctuation Day Center for Writing Excellence: Call me a nerd, but . . . American Copy Editors Society: Celebrating the comma, partying with parentheses
Chicago Reader: Chicago’s contribution to National Punctuation Day
Chicago Reader: Cats, Chicagoan claim quotation, comma contest Ben G’s video salute to NPD: September 24th is National Punctuation Day! Headbloom Blog: The Apoplectic Apostrophe Grumbling & Gratitude: “HAPPY” NATIONAL PUNCTUATION ... DAY! Daily Writing Tips: 10 Websites and Blogs of Punctuation Protectors Wordnik: Punctuation Rules! TeleRead: National Punctuation Day is September 24 Punctuation rap song: Dots N Dashes You Tube: Punctuation songs and videos Cybrary Man: Cybrary Man’s Educational Web Sites Arlington Now: Arlington Resident a National Punctuation Day Winner Arlington Sun-Gazette: Arlingtonian Among Tops in U.S. in Creative Use of Punctuation Canton Repository: Punctuation contest brings out the best
New Jersey reporter searches for
Old Navy’s T-shirt
Colleges and universities approved
National Punctuation Day®
Cake Wrecks highlights
Victor Borge and Dean Martin
National Punctuation Day at the
PUNCTUATION PROGRAM IN In 2006, National Punctuation Day® founder Jeff Rubin and his wife, Norma, began performing
Punctuation Playtime® assemblies in
elementary schools. Punctuation Playtime® has been performed nearly 75 times in schools from California
to Chicago to New York. Teachers love the program and how Jeff and Norma interact with the children. “Your program completely supports our curriculum content,” said Sally Feldman, a teacher at Washington
Elementary School, in Point Richmond, CA. “You have wrapped up the best in teaching to bring to our students.
I love the fact that you are not afraid to teach young children great skills!” “That’s a typical comment we get from teachers after a program,” says Jeff,
who works during the day as The Newsletter Guy, writing company
newsletters for corporate customers out of his office in Pinole, CA.
Punctuation Playtime® performs PUNCTUATION PLAYTIME® Jeff and Norma have also produced a 30-minute
instructional DVD that trains teachers how to facilitate Punctuation Playtime® in their schools. They also conduct 90-minute workshops
for elementary-school teachers on how to teach punctuation to children in a fun and engaging way. Visit the NPD website regularly at www.NationalPunctuationDay.com for updates and new photos.
And check the Punctuation Playtime® website at www.PunctuationPlaytime.com for
information about bringing our program to your school. National Punctuation Day® features Americans respond to National Punctuation Day® with photos of their most annoying punctuation gaffes. National Punctuation Day® strikes a chord with the American public. Read their letters. Punctuation and the Love Letter . . . it will break your heart. Banking on proper punctuation: The Bank of America celebrates—for a week! Punctuation party in Ohio: The Dayton Business Journal celebrates—pastry style! Errant comma costs company $2.13 million: Read about it in the Toronto Globe and Mail. Why so many college freshmen need remedial English: Read about the high school mismatch. Punctuation changes a sentence’s meaning: A comma here, a hyphen there, can change your life. Why punctuation matters in business: It’s all about how you present yourself, and how you are perceived. Writing skills help learning—and earning: The Young Writers Project reveals some interesting statistics. Sing the Punctuation Rap: Yes—a rap song for children that actually teaches them something useful! Got a photo of an incorrectly punctuated sign?
The staff at National Punctuation Day® headquarters congratulates Dana Cook Grossman, of East Thetford, VT,
and Eve Baker, of Dayton, OH, (adult division) and Vincenza Montante, of Washington-Lee High School, Arlington, VA,
and Jacques Guillot Jr., of Saint Paul's School, Covington, LA (student division) as winners of the
2012 National Punctuation Day® Presidential Punctuation challenge.
sponsors contest honoring
National Punctuation Day®
from WABI-TV in Bangor, ME
National Punctuation Day®
KFKA
Greeley, CO
The Amy Oliver Show
WBGZ
Alton, IL
Mike Montgomery
KPCC
Pasadena, CA
Patt Morrison Show
KFWB
Los Angeles
Maggie McKay
National Punctuation Day®
missing apostrophe in Toms River
apostrophe catastrophe
the apostrophe-less T-shirt
salutes the Tea Party
The “Wonders” (of) Punctuation...
sing phonetic punctuation
Michigan State University School of Journalism
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS®
at Los Angeles-area shopping center
TRAINING VIDEO®
Click here to e-mail it to Jeff Rubin and it will be posted on the
National Punctuation Day® web site—with a photo credit!
National Punctuation Day® makes the news! TV, radio, newspapers, and blogs are all covering this phenomenon.
Check it out here
Cook the Official
Meat Loaf of
National Punctuation Day®!
(see PDF recipe)
See how people
around the U.S.
have celebrated
National Punctuation Day®.
Thomas Jefferson
Elementary School (NJ)
celebrates
National Punctuation Day®
Auburn (MI)
Elementary School
celebrates
National Punctuation Day®
Bailey Middle School
(Pensacola, FL)
7th graders celebrate
National Punctuation Day®
St. John the Evangelist
Catholic School
(Pensacola, FL)
7th graders celebrate
National Punctuation Day®
Glen Grove School
(Glenview, IL)
celebrates
National Punctuation Day®