Activities

1. List situations where capital letters should be used.
   
   
2. Identify words that show correct use of capital letters from a given set of words.

3. Classify words and phrases by whether they show correct capitalization or not.
   
   
4. Identify patterns in the capitalization of words.

5. Critically assess and revise a provided writing sample to include correct capitalization.
   
   
6. Construct a paragraph that shows your understanding of the rules of capitalization.

Answer Key/Rubric

1. The student will generate a list of situations where capital letters should be used. Acceptable answers include, but are not limited to: proper nouns, names, acronyms, beginning of a sentence, and names of places. Look for the student to be able to provide examples beyond proper nouns, and that the student understands that proper noun capitalization includes people, places, and things.

2. The student will correctly identify words that are correctly capitalized from a given set of words. The set should include a variety of situations, including proper nouns, acronyms, and sentences, and should include both correct and incorrect uses of capitals. Watch for the student to be able to identify a variety of situations that require capital letters.

3. When provided with a set of words and phrases that both follow and do not follow capitalization rules, the student will classify the words by whether they show correct capitalization or not. Watch for students to show understanding of the different times when capital letters are required and when they are not. Common mistakes may include not understanding the different rules for proper nouns vs. their common noun counterpart (e.g. Grand Canyon National Park vs. a national park).

4. The student will use a provided reading (may be a set of sentences using correct capitalization, or may be a longer selection) to identify patterns found in words that are capitalized. Acceptable answers may include, but are not limited to, all names, all place names but not place labels, acronyms, are capitalized. Watch for students to arrive independently at a number of the rules of capitalization based on the conventions used in the selection provided.

5. The student will assess and revise a provided writing sample to show correct capitalization. The student will show that they understand a variety of capitalization rules, and will correctly implement those rules as they revise the selection.

6. The student will produce a writing sample, adhering to correct capitalization conventions. The student will demonstrate that they understand how and when to use capital letters both for proper usage and for effect. Watch for the student to include several different situations that require capital letters to best demonstrate their understanding.