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Syntax and Sentence Structure
My City: Capitalizing Proper Nouns!

Summary

In this literacy centre, designed for grades 1 to 3, students will focus on using capital letters for proper nouns, specifically the names of people, places, and specific things. They will create a mini-book about their city or town, ensuring all proper nouns are correctly capitalized.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this centre, students will be able to:
  • Identify proper nouns and capitalize them correctly (e.g., names of people, cities, landmarks);
  • Create a mini-book about their city, focusing on correct capitalization;
  • Understand the difference between common nouns and proper nouns.

Material to Prepare

  • Appendix A: Blank Mini-Book Templates
  • Appendix B: Proper Noun Examples List
  • Appendix C: Checklist for Proper Nouns
  • Pencils, erasers, coloured pencils, or markers

Procedure

Note for Educators:
This activity emphasizes capitalization for proper nouns, which aligns with the Language Conventions Continuum (B3.3) for students in grades 1–3. However, since grade 1 students are typically still developing initial skills in capitalizing proper nouns and sentences, you may wish to simplify the examples or focus primarily on basic capitalization (e.g., beginning of sentences and names of people or places).
Step 1: Learn About Proper Nouns
  • Step 1: Introduction to Proper Nouns

    Review the basic rules for capitalizing proper nouns:

    • People’s names (e.g., Sacha, Alex).
    • Places (e.g., Toronto, Niagara Falls).
    • Specific things (e.g., CN Tower, Rideau Canal).
  • Step 2: Explore Examples

    Look at the Proper Noun Examples List (Appendix A) for ideas of proper nouns to include in your mini-book.

Step 2: Create a Mini-Book About Your City
  • Step 1: Plan Your Mini-Book

    Think about your city or town and the things that make it unique. You can include:

    • Names of famous landmarks (e.g., a park, museum).
    • Names of streets, schools, or important buildings.
    • Names of people who live in your city (real or fictional).
  • Step 2: Write and Illustrate Your Mini-Book
    • Write a sentence or two about a person, place, or thing in your city on each page of your mini-book. Ensure that you:
      • Capitalize all the proper nouns (e.g., “I live near Lake Ontario.”).
      • Illustrate each page to match your sentences.
    • Example:
      • “One of my favourite places is Queen’s Park. It has beautiful trees and walking paths.”
      • Draw a picture of Queen’s Park.
  • Step 3: Check for Capitals

    Use the Checklist for Proper Nouns (Appendix B) to check your work and ensure all proper nouns are capitalized correctly.

Checklist for Independent Work:

  • Did you capitalize all proper nouns (names of people, places, or specific things)?
  • Did you include names of landmarks, streets, and important places in your city?
  • Did you draw illustrations to match your sentences?

DIFFERENTIATION: Observing and providing support during analysis.

Possible Observation Intervention Strategies
Students forget to capitalize certain proper nouns, especially when writing names of places or people.
  • Ask the student to go back and underline all the proper nouns in their writing. Then, guide them in capitalizing the first letter of each.
  • Offer a quick reminder of the difference between common and proper nouns, focusing on capitalizing specific names of people, places, and things.
  • Have the student use the Checklist for Proper Nouns (Appendix B) to check for missed capitalization errors.
Students incorrectly capitalize common nouns like “grocery store” or “school” when they shouldn’t be capitalized unless they’re part of a proper name.
  • Ask the student to sort a list of nouns into common and proper categories to clarify when capital letters are needed.
  • Reinforce the rule that only the specific names of places (e.g., “Maple Grove School”) are capitalized, while general terms (e.g., “school”) are not.
  • Pair the student with a peer for a review session where they read each other’s work and check for correct capitalization.
Students use only generic terms without including specific names of people, places, or things.
  • Ask the student to replace general words like “the city” or “the park” with specific names of places in their town (e.g., “Toronto” or “Stanley Park”).
  • Share specific names of places, people, and landmarks that the student can include in their writing (use Appendix A: Proper Noun Examples List as inspiration).
  • To help students think more specifically, prompt them with questions like, “What is the name of the park you’re writing about?”
Students write straightforward, underdeveloped sentences, such as “I like my city” without including proper nouns or additional information.
For example, the student’s mini-book contains only one or two-word sentences.
  • Guide the students in expanding their sentences by asking them to add specific details (e.g., “I like my city because it has a big park called Stanley Park”).
  • Give the student sentence starters that require proper nouns, such as “In my city, I live near _______” or “One famous landmark is _______.”
  • Have the student discuss their ideas with a partner before writing to generate more detailed sentences.
Students complete the activity quickly and need additional challenges to keep them engaged.
  • Ask advanced students to add more pages to their mini-book, focusing on different aspects of their city (e.g., local history, famous people from their city).
  • Encourage students to draw a map of their city, labelling important places, streets, and landmarks and ensuring proper capitalization of all names.
  • Challenge students to write a longer, more detailed story about a day in their city, incorporating multiple proper nouns in their writing.

Appendixes

Download the Appendixes document

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