• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Who or what? Did what? (subject and predicate); Common and proper nouns). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. Which part is the SUBJECT (who or what the sentence is about)? Grandma and Grandpa grow tomatoes. (Grandma and / grow tomatoes / Grandma and Grandpa / and Grandpa grow) → Grandma and GrandpaPrompt: Ask: who or what did something?
2. Which word is a proper noun (the name of a particular person, place or day)? We had pancakes in March. (we / pancakes / had / March) → MarchPrompt: Proper nouns are special names.
3. Which part is the PREDICATE (what the subject does)? The bees buzzed around the flowers. (around the / bees buzzed / The bees / buzzed around the flowers.) → buzzed around the flowers.Prompt: Find the subject first: who or what?

• Read a short passage with no punctuation and let the class hear why it's confusing.
• Share the objective: Capital letters in titles (The Day the Robots Danced). Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: Which book title uses capital letters correctly?
• Step 1: In a title, use a capital for the first word, the last word and every important word. Small words like a, the, and, of, in, on, to and for stay small unless they come first.
• Step 2: So the answer is: The Day the School Floated Away
• Answer: The Day the School Floated Away
• Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

• Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
• Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.

1. Which book title uses capital letters correctly? (The day the school floated away / The Day the school Floated Away / The Day the School Floated Away / The Day The School Floated Away) → The Day the School Floated AwayPrompt: Check the small words: a, the, and, of, to, in, on, for.
2. Every word in this title has a capital. Which word should NOT? How To Train A Hamster (Train / To / How / Hamster) → ToPrompt: The first word always keeps its capital.

• 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 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

• Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.

1. Type this title with the correct capital letters. how to train a hamster → How to Train a HamsterPrompt: Start with a capital.
2. Which book title uses capital letters correctly? (Ten Ways to Save a Snail / Ten Ways To Save A Snail / Ten ways to save a snail / Ten Ways to save a Snail) → Ten Ways to Save a SnailPrompt: Check the small words: a, the, and, of, to, in, on, for.

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/english/grade-3.