English lesson plan · 2nd grade (Year 3 in England) · 30 minutes
Capitals for festivals, holidays and place names
Punctuation
CCSS L.2.2.AEngland: Y2 GPS (capital letters for proper nouns)England: Y3 GPS
Objective and success criteria
Students will: Capitals for festivals, holidays and place names.
- I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
- I can explain each step and say why it works.
- I can check my answer and spot a mistake.
Before and after
Needs first: Capitals for names, days, months and places
Leads to: the next skill in this area.
Materials: Punctuation cards, A short unpunctuated text, Highlighters, Mini whiteboards, A short model text on the board, Printed student sheet (below).
Warm-up · 4 min
- Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Capitals for names, days, months and places). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
- Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
- Which word should start with a capital letter? I swim every tuesday after school. (school / tuesday / every / swim) → tuesdayPrompt: Capital letters are for the start of a sentence, I, and the names of people, places, days and months.
- Which sentence is written correctly? (Dad flies to Canada on monday. / Dad flies to canada on monday. / dad flies to Canada on Monday. / Dad flies to Canada on Monday.) → Dad flies to Canada on Monday.Prompt: Check the first word, the word I, and every name.
- Which word should start with a capital letter? My party is on saturday. (is / party / saturday / on) → saturdayPrompt: Capital letters are for the start of a sentence, I, and the names of people, places, days and months.
Hook · 3 min
- Read a short passage with no punctuation and let the class hear why it's confusing.
- Share the objective: Capitals for festivals, holidays and place names. Read the success criteria together.
I do: model it · 7 min
- Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
- Example: Which word should have a capital letter? Our family eats a big meal at thanksgiving.
- Step 1: Names of particular festivals and places are proper nouns and need capital letters.
- Step 2: So the answer is: thanksgiving
- Answer: thanksgiving
- Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.
We do: guided practice · 6 min
- Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
- Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
- Which word should have a capital letter? Our family eats a big meal at thanksgiving. (family / meal / big / thanksgiving) → thanksgivingPrompt: Festivals, holidays, rivers, oceans, mountains, countries and parks are all names.
- Which sentence uses capital letters correctly? (We swam in the Pacific ocean in july. / We swam in the Pacific Ocean in July. / We swam in the pacific ocean in July. / we swam in the Pacific Ocean in July.) → We swam in the Pacific Ocean in July.Prompt: Check the first word and every name.
You do: independent practice · 7 min
- Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
- Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.
The 6 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.
Exit ticket · 3 min
- Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
- Which sentence uses capital letters correctly? (we swam in the Pacific Ocean in July. / We swam in the pacific ocean in July. / We swam in the Pacific ocean in july. / We swam in the Pacific Ocean in July.) → We swam in the Pacific Ocean in July.Prompt: Check the first word and every name.
- Which word should have a capital letter? We climbed mount Snowdon in Wales. (in / climbed / we / mount) → mountPrompt: Festivals, holidays, rivers, oceans, mountains, countries and parks are all names.
Watch out for
- Using commas where a full stop (period) is needed.
- Putting apostrophes in plurals (apple's).
Support and stretch
Support
- Review first: Capitals for names, days, months and places.
- Use concrete materials: punctuation cards.
- Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
- Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.
Stretch
- Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
- Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.
Homework and more practice
Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/english/grade-2.
Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder