1. society
2. unrest and war

Ten-Minute
Grammar
CAPITALIZATION – Teacher’s Guide
INTRODUCTION:
Welcome to Ten-Minute Grammar! The goal of these units is to help students build a solid
understanding of grade-level grammar concepts during the first ten minutes of the class period each
day. Each unit goes through a progression in which new grammatical concepts are introduced (by
discovery, as much as possible), built upon, and then practiced and reviewed. In addition, the concepts
in each consecutive unit build on one another logically—it might seem silly to spend time reviewing
nouns and verbs with 8th graders, but it’s necessary if they’re going to understand things like gerunds
and infinitives or specific types of verb phrases.
The unit includes a week and a half of daily bell ringer activities, a quiz, and one or more additional
practice worksheets.
SUGGESTED TIMELINE:
 Start the Day One bell ringer on a Monday.
 By Friday, if you feel the class is ready for it, give the unit quiz.
o If you feel like the entire class needs additional practice to master the concept (or, let’s be
honest, if the next week is a short one and you don’t have time to start a new unit but
need bell ringers for a few extra days), there are three additional days’ worth of bell
ringers.
 After the quiz, a student who clearly failed to grasp one of the week’s concepts could be
assigned one of the practice worksheets. After completing the worksheet, the student could
retake the unit quiz for an improved grade.
o The worksheets can also be used during the week as extra practice for the entire class.
OBJECTIVES:
1. Students should understand that…
a. Proper nouns should be capitalized, and common nouns should not.
b. The first word of a quotation should be capitalized.
c. People’s titles should be capitalized only when it is used as part of their name or in place
of their name.
d. Words derived from proper nouns (like languages) are always capitalized.
e. In titles of publications, the first and last word are always capitalized, and all other words
are capitalized except articles, coordinating conjunctions, and prepositions.
2. Students should be able to…
a. Avoid the most common capitalization errors in their own writing.
b. Recognize and correct capitalization errors when proofreading.
KEYS TO THE UNIT:
The capitalization rules covered in this unit are only a few of the most basic rules. It will be necessary
to teach the more complex rules as they arise, but the rules in focus here are ones that student writers
must have mastered to avoid common capitalization errors.
DAILY ROUTINE:
Have the day’s bell ringer activity up on a projector when the students come to class each day. I have
my students do the assignment on quarter sheets of paper (I cut them up and have a stack available
each day). Some days in each unit require copyediting; since it takes too long for students to copy the
incorrect sentences and then edit them, a page of quarter-size student answer sheets are provided for
those days (see the pages after the last bell ringer.)
Students should spend the first five minutes working silently (you should use that time to take roll and
then circulate around the room to keep kids on task.) After the five minutes of work time, spend the
next five minutes going over the answers. Don’t give them the answers (except as a last resort); you
want the students to volunteer their answers. Use the correction session each day to explain new
concepts, clarify ideas, and correct misconceptions. If a student volunteers an incorrect answer, find
someone else who can give the correct answer. Help the class understand the concept a little better
and then ask the first student a question like, “Explain to the class why your first answer was wrong.”
I’ve never had a student feel offended by this—if anything, it gives kids a chance to redeem themselves
after what might have been an embarrassing moment of being wrong in front of everyone.
If you use an overhead projector, a Smart Board, or project onto a white marker board, you can
choose a student each day to come to the front and write answers or corrections as other students
volunteer them.
In my class, students get full credit as long as they come up with an answer for every question, even if
some answers are incorrect. At the very least, for the first few days while new concepts are introduced,
students should be allowed to change their answers during the correction session—but only if they
already have an answer of their own. What we want is for them to try to figure out the answer. If
they get it wrong, they’ll learn when you set them straight in the correction session. But they learn
nothing if they just write down answers as you dictate them!
The Wordplay at the end of each day’s questions can be a way to earn extra credit if you choose. As
incentive to work quickly, I tell my students they can’t begin on the Wordplay until they’re finished
with the other questions, and I always offer a piece of candy to the first student to get the answer right
or the student with the best answer or most answers. (You’d be surprised what junior-high students
will do for a Starburst or a Jolly Rancher!)
LITERATURE:
This unit contains example selections from the novel Sunrise
over Fallujah by Walter Dean Meyers.
Ten-Minute
Grammar
DAY
One
Capitalization
Identify the capitalization errors in the following sentences and re-write the words that need
to be changed (there is at least one in each sentence):
1. We went to new york city last year. New York City
2. I brought a book called sights to see in the city. Sights to See in the City
3. There were a ton of people there, and many of them spoke languages
other than english. English
4. At the World Trade Center Memorial, we met an awesome cop named
officer Fernandez. Officer
5. When it was time to leave, I asked my parents, “can we come back next
year?” Can
Correct any words with capitalization errors in the following paragraph (there are 11
incorrect words in all):
6. One of my favorite parts of the trip was seeing the statue of liberty. I
learned that it was a gift to the united states from the french. On
another day, we met the Mayor; his name was mayor Bloomberg.
Mom and dad thought it was outrageous how expensive everything
was. Dad said, “next year we’re going to las vegas.”
Wordplay – Just for fun!
 EIGHT LETTERS: Create as many words as you can using three or more of the
letters below (at least one eight-letter word is possible):
RUDOTASW
Outwards
Ten-Minute
Grammar
DAY
Two
Capitalization
In your own words, write a capitalization rule that explains the following correction (Your
rule could start with “You should capitalize…”):
1. nile river = Nile River
That River there = that river there
You should capitalize proper nouns—names of specific people, places or things—but not
common nouns.
2. I said, “hello.” = I said, “Hello.”
You should capitalize the first word of a quotation.
3. president Washington = President Washington
was the first President
was the first president
You should capitalize titles only when they are used as part of a person’s name.
4. french, spanish, american = French, Spanish, American
You should capitalize languages. You should capitalize any word that is derived from a proper
noun.
The goal here is to get the students to deduce the rules on their own. During the correction
session, correct any misconceptions and lead them to the best way of stating each rule.
Based on the rules you deduced above, find the capitalization error in each sentence below:
5. I want to go to disneyland in california.
6. She asked, “why is your hair purple?”
7. Our class wrote letters to senator Kennedy last year.
8. This pancake house down the road has great german pancakes; and one
of the cashiers is bilingual, so you can order in spanish if you want.
Wordplay – Just for fun!
 VOWEL COMBINATOR: The vowel combination “ou” can sound like the
“ow” in “wow” or like the soft “u” in “much.” List as many words as you can that
contain this vowel combo.
Ten-Minute
Grammar
DAY
Three
Capitalization
Yesterday, you deduced the following the capitalization rules. Create your own example
sentence for each rule:
Answers will vary.
1. Proper nouns should be capitalized, and common nouns should not.
2. The first word in a quotation should be capitalized.
3. A person’s title should be capitalized only when it’s used as a name or
as part of a name.
4. Words that come from proper nouns (like languages) should be
capitalized.
General Grammar Review – Read the following excerpt from Sunrise over Fallujah by Walter
Dean Meyers and then answer the questions:
The sadness in Halima’s voice bothered me, but then I thought
about the village men who had been killed, and remembered her
saying that they were going to Baghdad to get ready to fight
Americans.
5. List at least four nouns from this sentence. Sadness, Halima, voice, men,
Baghdad, Americans
6. Who is the antecedent of the pronoun “her” in the second line? Halima
7. List at least three verbs from this sentence. Bothered, thought, had been
killed, remembered, were going (“saying,” “to get ready,” and “to fight” are
verbals NOT acting as verbs here—this will be covered in a future unit.)
Wordplay – Just for fun!
 DESCRAMBLER: Try to sort out the five scrambled words below:
WOSC EPJES DWNIOW RAMECRE YRAMDEDA
Cows Jeeps Window Creamer Daydream
Ten-Minute
Grammar
DAY
Four
Capitalization
In titles of things like books, movies, and articles, the first and last
word are always capitalized, and all other words are capitalized
except articles (a, an, the), short conjunctions (and, but, or, as, if),
and prepositions (of, over, beyond, through).
Rewrite the following titles with correct capitalization:
1. Harry potter And The half-blood Prince Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
2. lizzie bright and the buckminster boy
3. second Star To The Right
4.
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
Second Star to the Right
the Curious case of Benjamin button
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Using the proper proofreading marks, correct the six errors in this excerpt from Sunrise over
Fallujah by Walter Dean Meyers:
You’re
“Your not allowed to treat iraqis,” captain Coles said.
“I’ve got a few rolls of clean bandages and and some antibiotics,” Miller
said. “I don’t think its going to make a major difference in the War.”
Wordplay – Just for fun!
 CATALOGUE CREATOR: The root word “-aster- / -astr-” means “star.”
How many words can you list that contain this root?
Ten-Minute
Grammar
QUIZ
DAY
Capitalization
REVIEW FOR TODAY’S QUIZ:
1. When should a noun be capitalized?
2. When starting a quotation in the middle of a sentence, which word
should be capitalized?
3. When would words like “mom” and “dad” be capitalized, and when
would they not?
4. Why are words like black and white not capitalized while AfricanAmerican and Caucasian are capitalized?
5. Identify the capitalization errors in the following sentence:
a. king augustus arbuckle, the ruler of buckland, wrote a book about
his experiences called becoming The supreme Leader Of A
completely unknown Country. In the book, Augustus says, “to be
honest, being a king kind of stinks.”
Extra
Ten-Minute
Grammar
DAY
Five
Capitalization
Correct any capitalization errors you find in the following paragraphs (there are 5 in each):
1. For my birthday, I wanted a new Game Console. I was hoping for a
nintendo game system, but mom thought they were still too expensive.
I said, “what if I pay for half of it?” She still wouldn’t give in.
2. barack obama was elected as president in 2008. Since taking office in
2009, president Obama’s approval rating has gone up and down, just
like other Presidents’ ratings have in the Past.
3. The neighbors down the street adopted a little girl from china last year.
A few months later, the neighbors in the next house brought home a
two-year-old vietnamese orphan, and my friend’s mom and dad
became Foster parents to a boy from guatemala. At the end of the year,
mom said, “Looks like love is contagious.”
Wordplay – Just for fun!
 FOUR-LETTER WORDS: Take the four-letter word below and change one letter
to make a new four-letter word (keep it clean!) Then take that word and change
one letter to make a new word. Then take that word and… You get the picture.
ARMY
Extra
Ten-Minute
DAY
Six
Grammar
Capitalization
REMEMBER: In titles of things like books, movies, and articles, the
first and last word are always capitalized, and all other words are
capitalized except articles (a, an, the), short conjunctions (and, but,
or, as, if), and prepositions (of, over, beyond, through).
Rewrite the following titles with correct capitalization:
1. The dangerous book for Boys
2.
The Dangerous Book for Boys
the Absolutely True Diary Of A part-time Indian The Absolutely True Diary of a
Part-Time Indian
3.
the last book in the universe
4.
the Lord Of The Rings
The Last Book in the Universe
The Lord of the Rings
Using the proper proofreading marks, correct the six errors in this excerpt from Sunrise over
Fallujah by Walter Dean Meyers:
I told victor that the women had named the monkey sergeant Yossarian
and thatthe name was from a book called catch-22. Victor said that it was
stupid to give a Monkey a name. I said, “hey, women do that kind of thing.”
Wordplay – Just for fun!
 FIXER-ROOTER: How many words can you think of that have the same
prefix, suffix, or root as the multisyllabic word below?
UNCONSCIONABLE
(unjustly excessive)
Extra
Ten-Minute
Grammar
DAY
Seven
Capitalization
Read the following excerpts from Sunrise over Fallujah by Walter Dean Meyers. Identify the
capitalization errors in each sentence (there is at least one in each sentence):
1. Yesterday (or the day before, I couldn’t tell) the iraqi 5th corps formally
surrendered.
2. I wanted to write to dad and tell him about the war being over, but he
is still acting sour about me being in the army.
3. Major Sessions said, “we’ve been asked to help a woman find her son.”
4. We dropped major Sessions off in the Green Zone and me, Jonesy, and
Marla went with Captain Coles and Jamil.
5. We met the iraqi kids. Only they weren’t the same kids we had played
the first Game with.
6. “Hey, birdy, you getting a bad feeling about this game?” captain Coles
asked.
7. “people from three villages wanted to play,” Omar said, holding up
three fingers. “They all know about the game and want to play against
the americans.”
8. The old man spoke in arabic, and I looked at ahmed.
Wordplay – Just for fun!
 ANAGRAM: Rearrange the letters in the nonsense phrase below to
create new words that actually make sense.
CLUMSY MIME PROS
(Hint: competition)
Summer Olympics
QUIZ ANSWER KEY
Put a check mark by the sentence that uses correct
capitalization:
1. ____ The war in Iraq, also called Operation Iraqi
Freedom, began in March, 2003.
____ The war in Iraq, also called operation Iraqi
freedom, began in March, 2003.
2. ____ One reason for the war was that U.S. leaders
suspected iraq of possessing Weapons of mass
destruction.
____ One reason for the war was that U.S. leaders
suspected Iraq of possessing weapons of mass
destruction.
3. ____ The president said, “We know that Iraq, in the late
1990s, had several mobile biological weapons labs,”
____ The president said, “we know that Iraq, in the late
1990s, had several mobile Biological Weapons labs,”
4. ____ One of the President’s key allies was prime minister
Tony Blair of the United Kingdom.
____ One of the president’s key allies was Prime Minister
Tony Blair of the United Kingdom.
Identify the capitalization errors using the proper
proofreading marks (there are three errors in each.)
5. The invasion of baghdad, Iraq’s capital city, eventually led
to the capture of saddam hussein, the president of Iraq.
6. Even after victory was declared later in 2003, U.S. forces
continued to battle iraqis who fought against the american
occupation of their Country.
7. In a speech from the Oval Office of the white house in
August of 2010, President Barack Obama said, “the
American combat mission in Iraq has ended.”
8. as of june, 2011, there had been over 4,700 U.S. and ally
Casualties in the war in Iraq.
Are the following titles correctly capitalized? (Yes or No)
9. _____
YES To Kill a Mockingbird
10. _____
NO Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid
11. _____
NO Late night with David Letterman
12. _____
YES I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Rewrite the following titles with correct capitalization:
13. through the looking glass (book)
Through the Looking Glass
14. mr. smith goes to washington (movie)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
15. the forest of hands and teeth (book)
The Forest of Hands and Teeth
16. the declaration of independence (historical document)
The Declaration of Independence
Ten-Minute
Grammar
Extra
Practice
Capitalization
NAME:
PERIOD:
REMEMBER that you should capitalize…
a.
b.
c.
d.
Proper nouns but not common nouns
The first word of a quotation
A person’s title only when it is used as part of the person’s name
Words derived from proper nouns (like languages or nationalities)
Put a check mark by the sentence that uses correct capitalization:
1. _____ On march 19, 2003—two days after demanding that Saddam hussein and his Sons
surrender and leave Iraq within 48 hour—the U.S.-led Coalition begins bombing baghdad.
_____ On March 19, 2003—two days after demanding that Saddam Hussein and his sons
surrender and leave Iraq within 48 hour—the U.S.-led coalition begins bombing Baghdad.
2. _____ Outlining the purpose of invading Iraq, President Bush says, “The people of the United
States and our friends and allies will not live at the mercy of an outlaw regime.”
_____ Outlining the purpose of invading Iraq, president Bush says, “the people of the United
States and our friends and Allies will not live at the mercy of an Outlaw regime.”
3. _____ On March 20th at 7:57 A.M., the first confirmed skirmish between American and Iraqi
forces takes place.
_____ On March 20th at 7:57 A.M., the first Confirmed Skirmish between american and iraqi
forces takes place.
4. _____ After encountering little serious resistance, U.S. forces roll into Central baghdad and take
control of iraq's Capital City.
_____ After encountering little serious resistance, U.S. forces roll into central Baghdad and take
control of Iraq's capital city
5. _____ On April 9th, Marines pull down a giant statue of Saddam in Firdos Square amidst
celebrating Iraqis.
_____ On April 9th, marines pull down a giant Statue of Saddam in firdos square amidst
celebrating Iraqis.
In the examples below, identify the capitalization errors using the proper proofreading
marks (the number in parentheses tells how many errors are in each paragraph):
6. (8) Sitting in the co-pilot's seat of a Navy S-3B Viking, president Bush landed May 1 on the USS
abraham lincoln, an aircraft Carrier stationed off the coast of san Diego. Dressed in a flight suit,
he gave a Nationally televised victory speech from the carrier's flight deck and declared, “major
combat operations in iraq have ended.”
7. (9) By June, 2003, over 50 american troops had been killed since major Combat operations
were declared over. secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld blamed continued problems in Iraq
on the last remnants of Saddam's baathist regime, claiming that the level of Violence is not
different from everyday Crime in a major U.S. City.
8. (8) After the 2003 invasion of Iraq, david Kay led the U.S. weapons inspection team known as
the iraq survey group. In less than one year, Kay told a Senate committee that no weapons of
mass destruction (or WMDs) had been found in Iraq. On january 28, he testified, “it turns out
that we were all wrong.” However, he maintained that he still believed the War was the right
thing to do in light of the continuing threat posed by saddam.
9. (15) In early february, 2004, various Media outlets reported that U.S. forces had stormed a
house in baghdad and found a computer disk containing a letter addressed to senior al-qaeda
terrorist figures. The writer, believed to be the jordanian insurgent zarqawi, asked for assistance
in waging a Civil War of religious Extremism in Iraq and claimed to be behind 25 attacks on
american and other coalition Forces. U.S. officials point to the letter, saying, “there is clearly a
plan on the part of Outsiders to come into this Country and spark civil war.”
(The “al” in “al-Qaeda” is NOT capitalized. If students miss that, it’s not the end of the world.)
(Example sentences take from “Seven Years in Iraq: An Iraq War Timeline” at www.time.com.)
On the lines below, write 5 example sentences of your own about war. In each sentence,
include ONE capitalization error. When you’re finished, go back and edit your own errors
using the proper proofreading marks.
Answers will vary.
Ten-Minute
Grammar
Extra
Practice
Capitalization
NAME:
PERIOD:
In titles of things like books, movies, and articles, the first and last
word are always capitalized, and all other words are capitalized
except articles (a, an, the), short conjunctions (and, but, or, as, if),
and prepositions (of, over, beyond, through).
Circle the title that is capitalized correctly:
1. Hitler Youth: growing up in Hitler’s shadow
Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow
2. the Kane Chronicles, Book Two: the Throne of Fire
The Kane Chronicles, Book Two: The Throne of Fire
3. The Power of Six
the Power of Six
4. The Catcher In The Rye
The Catcher in the Rye
5. Pretty Good for a Girl: The Autobiography of a Snowboarding Pioneer
Pretty Good for a girl: the autobiography of a Snowboarding Pioneer
6. Courage the Cowardly Dog
Courage the cowardly Dog
7. Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Use the proper proofreading marks to correct the capitalization errors in the following titles:
8. Children Of the Dust Bowl: the True Story of the school at Weedpatch Camp
9. Miss Peregrine’s home for peculiar Children
10. to Kill A Mockingbird
11. Lord Of The Flies
12. Soul Surfer: a True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to get back on the Board
13. Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends
14. How to train Your Dragon
Rewrite the following titles with the correct capitalization:
Children of the Great Depression
15. children of the great depression _____________________________________________
What Happened to Goodbye
16. what happened to goodbye ___________________________________________
17. return of the king __________________________________
Return of the King
18. the tales of beedle the bard ___________________________________________
The Tales of Beedle the Bard
19. a child called “it”: one child’s courage to survive
A Child Called “It”: One Child’s Courage to Survive
________________________________________________________________________
20. late night with conan o’Brien ___________________________________________
Late Night with Conan O’Brien
21. transformers: revenge of the fallen ____________________________________________
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Now it’s your turn to create the examples!
Write your own title to match the following descriptions. Each title must be at least three
words long and must have at least one word that is NOT capitalized:
22. A science fiction novel about clones:
Answers will vary.
______________________________________________________________________________
23. A nonfiction book about American history:
______________________________________________________________________________
24. A TV show about strange scientific discoveries:
______________________________________________________________________________
25. A novel about life in junior high:
______________________________________________________________________________
26. A movie about the zombie apocalypse:
______________________________________________________________________________