Capitalization Lesson

What Do We Capitalize?

1. Names of People

Always capitalize a person’s name.

Examples:

• Aunt Rachel
• Emma
• Dr. Lee
• William Shakespeare

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2. Titles of Books, Movies, and Plays

Capitalize the important words in titles.

Examples:

• Romeo and Juliet
• Finding Nemo
• Bridge to Terabithia
• The Lion King

💡 Do NOT capitalize small words like and, to, of unless they are the first word.

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3. Places and Landmarks

Capitalize special places.

Examples:

• Grand Canyon
• Mount Everest
• Golden Gate Bridge
• Han River

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4. Cities, States, Countries, and Continents

Capitalize names of locations.

Examples:

• Arizona
• Chicago
• South America
• New York City

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5. Days, Months, and Holidays

Capitalize special days and holidays.

Examples:

• Monday
• April
• December
• Fourth of July

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6. Schools, Stores, and Buildings

Capitalize names of businesses and organizations.

Examples:

• Hanbit Elementary School
• Wilson Bookstore
• Carnegie Hall

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Summary

We capitalize:
✅ Names of people
✅ Places
✅ Titles
✅ Days and months
✅ Holidays
✅ Buildings and schools

Note to Parents:

I am going to try something new with my blog: creating mini-lessons that are designed to be fun and less academic. Learning should be fun!

Each Mini-Series will have a theme. This time, we willl be focusing on “Crime”. Don’t worry- it won’t be real! Students will become detectives to solve small mysteries, and there will be accompanying writing/speaking prompts to let kids practice explaining their ideas in detail. Again, these lessons are for fun, and shouldn’t feel like homework!

My hope is that students will find the later mysteries more challenging, which will in turn require deeper thinking skills.

It is very important to ask students why—not just the answer. The goal is to practice either–or both–writing or speaking outputs.

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Here is a simple example mystery:

Mystery: Who Took the Cookie?

Story:
Mom made 3 cookies.
Now, 1 cookie is gone.
Tom, Anna, and Ben are in the room.

Clues:

• Tom has chocolate on his hands.
• Anna says, “I don’t like cookies.”
• Ben is sleeping.

Question:
👉 Who took the cookie?

Answer Frame:
👉 “I think ___ took the cookie because ___.”

(The answer is pretty obvious here, I hope!)

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Here is an example worksheet that will be used for each mystery:

Again, the goal is to have kids explaining their ideas in detail. I really recommend having your child use as many of the words in the word bank as possible, so that they can get used to having to think a little more deeply about their sentences.

Links to each mystery lesson:

Mystery #1:

Mini Series: Let’s Be Detectives! 🕵️ Mystery #1

Mystery #2:

Mini Series: Let’s Be Detectives! 🕵️ Mystery #2

Mystery #3:

Mini Series: Let’s Be Detectives! 🕵️ Mystery #3

Good Luck, Detectives! 🤪