When to Use Capital Letters.

Capitalization

First word in a sentence, proper names, and titles.

Contents

• Learn the Rules
• Sample Lesson
• Coach's Note
• Related Lessons
• External Links

---

Rules for Capitalization

Start a sentence with a capital letter.

The easiest capitalization rule to remember is this — always start a sentence with a capital letter. All sentences start with a capitalized first word and end with punctuation !, ?, or .

Capitalize Proper Names

We capitalize specific people, places, and things. (When in doubt always check the dictionary to determine if a word should be capitalized.) Capitalize people's names and titles; peoples; languages; nationalities; religions; political parties; racial or civic groups; athletic teams; geographical locations; institutions; historical and calendar periods and events; trademarks; institutions; words referring to supreme beings. Examples:

• Dr. Peter Parker, M.D.,
• Toronto, Ontario, Canada, North America,
• Torontonian, Canadian, English, French,
• Catholic, Liberal, Liberal Party of Canada,
• The Blue Jays, the Olympics,
• Monday, September, Christmas, Precambrian Period,
• Microsoft, Coke, Pepsi, Apple,
• Sing aloud unto God our strength.

Capitalize Key Words in a Title

Titles of books, plays, poems, songs, movies, papers , etc. are capitalized as such: the first and last word in the title is always capitalized, as well as all other words except small articles, prepositions, and conjunctions. Example: The Lord of the Rings.

Sample Sentences

Phrase	Capitalized/Punctuated	Joined
sam rolls out of bed he grabs his hair gel and runs downstairs to join dad who is leaving for work	Sam rolls out of bed. He grabs his hair gel and runs downstairs to join Dad, who is leaving for work.	Sam rolls out of bed.   He grabs his hair gel and runs downstairs to join Dad, who is leaving for work.
dad looks in the hall mirror he straightens his tie and looks again a tuft of hair is sticking up at the back of dad's head it sticks up every morning dad sighs his breath fogs the glass	Dad looks in the hall mirror. He straightens his tie and looks again. A tuft of hair is sticking up at the back of Dad's head. It sticks up every morning. Dad sighs. His breath fogs the glass.	Dad looks in the hall mirror.   He straightens his tie and looks again.   A tuft of hair is sticking up at the back of Dad's head.   (It sticks up every morning).   Dad sighs.    His breath fogs the glass.

---

Sample Lesson

• Objective
• Preparation
• Learn
• Do Together
• Practice
• Wrap-up

Objective

Help the learner recognize and correctly use capital letters at the beginning of sentences and for names of people and places.

Preparation

• Open this capitalization lesson.
• Open the interactive story Chasing Chase or use a printed copy from the linked Chasing Literacy page.
• Have paper and a pencil ready.

Learn

Read through the first few capitalization rules together. Explain that there are many capitalization rules, but today's lesson focuses on just three:

• Begin every sentence with a capital letter.
• Capitalize people's names.
• Capitalize place names.

Do not worry about memorizing every rule today. The remaining rules will become familiar through reading and writing.

Do Together

Read the first paragraph of Chasing Chase together.

• Find each capital letter.
• Ask why it is capitalized.
• Identify the names of people in the story.
• Look for the beginning of each sentence.

If the learner misses a capital letter, simply point to the sentence and say, "Here's another one."

If you are working with the online story, show the learner how to go to the 'Chasing Literacy' page and highlight capital letters by pressing the [capitals] button. It is a way for learners to practice alone and check answers.

Practice

Ask the learner to write three or four simple sentences about themselves.

For example:

• My name is ______.
• I live in ______.
• I have a ______.
• Today I ______.

Review the writing together, praising every correctly used capital letter. Don't worried about missed ones. With practice, every reader learns to spot capital letters and punctuation, quickly spying the start and end of sentences.

Wrap-up

Finish by asking the learner to explain the three capitalization rules in their own words.

• When do we use a capital letter?
• Why do names begin with capital letters?
• Can you find capital letters in something you read today?

Remind the learner that readers notice capital letters because they help organize writing and make it easier to understand.

---

Coach's Notes

Chasing Literacy: Return to the same short story throughout a learning journey. Each visit explores a different aspect of reading, grammar, composition, or critical thinking. As skills grow, learners will notice things they couldn't see before.

Consider having learners write answers on a recipe card. If the learner keeps and brings such cards to future coaching sessions, they can be used in warm up exercises.

Adults often already know that names begin with capital letters.

The challenge is remembering to use them consistently while concentrating on spelling and sentence construction.

Don't interrupt the learner every time they forget one.

Let them finish writing, then review together.

---

Continue Learning

• Go to the drill dashboard for Drill 1, and select 'Review Drill Words'. Use the function buttons [Abc] or [ABC] to see drill words displayed with capital letters. If you like, print the review sheet with capital letters turned on.
• Learn about punctuation.
  
• Reference Guided Reading Journey's Grammar Primer.

---

Resources