Writing Conventions Writing conventions are the glue that hold our written language together. They are the bits and pieces of language usage that seem so trivial when taught in English class. However without these conventions meaning would be practically impossible to pull from the context of written message. Children first encounter basic writing conventions within the context of books that are read to them. They notice the interestingly shaped exclamation and question marks.
Quotation marks become important as understanding conversation becomes important.
That is usually towards the end of first grade or the beginning of second. Use shared reading time of an old favorite book as a discussion setting for writing conventions. Choose only one point to discuss. Look for examples in other books. If you try to correct all of the punctuation, sentence structure, and tense problems at one sitting the young writer gives up on understanding what is happening and just passively follows your directions.