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Lesson Plan Template

  • Grade

  • Subject

  • Section

Second

ELA

Production and Distribution of Writing

  • Competency

RI.3.1

  • Aligned Standards

Writing

  • Strand

W.2.5

  • Vocabulary

  • Capitalize: To write the first letter of a word in uppercase.
  • Proper Noun: A specific name for a particular person, place, or thing.

Sentence: A set of words that expresses a complete thought.

Capital City

Review Capitalization

Prerequisite Skill

Capitalize Names

Materials and Preparation

  • Whiteboard and markers
  • Printed worksheets on capitalization
  • Examples of sentences on cards for group activities
  • Highlighters for students
  • Chart paper and markers

Learning Objectives

  • Students will understand and apply capitalization rules for names, places, days of the week, months, and holidays.
  • Students will recognize when to capitalize specific words within sentences.

Introduction

Begin by writing a few sentences on the board, intentionally miscapitalizing some words. For example:

  • "trains started going to and from phoenix in 1880."
  • "joe went to kentridge high school in tuesday."

Ask students to identify the mistakes and correct them. Explain the importance of capitalization in writing.

Explicit Instruction/Teacher modeling

Explain the rules of capitalization:

  1. Capitalize the first word of a sentence.
  2. Capitalize names of people and pets.
  3. Capitalize the names of months, days of the week, and holidays.
  4. Capitalize the names of cities, states, countries, and continents.
  5. Capitalize the names of buildings, bridges, streets, and monuments.
  6. Capitalize geographical features like rivers, mountains, deserts, and forests.
  7. Do not capitalize words like "the" or "of" unless they are the first word of the sentence.

Provide examples and non-examples for each rule to ensure understanding.

Guided Practice

Divide students into small groups and give each group a set of sentences on cards with capitalization errors. Have them work together to identify and correct the mistakes. Circulate the room to offer assistance and ensure correct application of the rules.

Independent Practice

Distribute worksheets with sentences that need capitalization corrections. Students will work independently to correct the sentences, applying the capitalization rules they've learned.

Differentiation

Support

  • Provide additional examples and non-examples for students who need more practice.
  • Use visual aids like charts and posters with the capitalization rules.
  • Offer one-on-one or small group support for students struggling with the concept.

Extension

  • Create a class book where each student contributes a properly capitalized sentence.
  • Have students write a short story, ensuring all proper nouns and the beginnings of sentences are capitalized.

Assessment

Review the students' worksheets and exit tickets to evaluate their understanding of capitalization rules. Provide feedback and additional practice if necessary.

Review and closing

Recap the capitalization rules discussed during the lesson. Address common misconceptions, such as when to capitalize words like "the" or "of." Allow students to ask any remaining questions and share any observations or curiosities they have.

Misconceptions

  1. Capitalizing random words within sentences without following rules.
  2. Not capitalizing proper nouns because they do not understand what constitutes a proper noun.
  3. Capitalizing every word in a title instead of just the first word and key words.
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