Proper Nouns
Instructional Video
Song Video
Review Video & Follow These Instructional GuidelinesFirst Grade
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Most educators seem to emphasize the capitalization of proper nouns, and rightly so. It is important, however, to empower your writers with the reason for using proper nouns rather than common nouns when writing. Using proper nouns over common nouns makes writing more specific. Proper nouns paint a clearer, more descriptive picture in the reader's head. For example, if I wrote the sentence “The girl went to the restaurant,” I would get a vague picture in my head. If I wrote the sentence, “Erica went to McDonald's,” the image would be much clearer since I know Erica, and I have a certain background of McDonald's as a restaurant. |
- Look all around your city, in grocery stores, and everywhere you go for proper nouns. Emphasize that proper nouns always start with capital letters. Using proper nouns makes your message more specific. For example, if I'm in the grocery store, and I say, “Bring me a box of cereal,” I would get a different result that I would if I say, “Bring me a box of Cocoa Puffs.”
- Look for proper nouns in the stories you read. The names of characters in stories are always proper nouns.
- Play the Noun Game. Give your child a noun, and ask him/her to tell you an example of a proper noun that would fit into this category. For example, if you say “store,” your child could say “Walmart.” If you say “restaurant,” your child could say “McDonald's.” If you say “teacher” your child could say “Mrs. Corbett.”
- Extra Engagement: Print and cut apart the “Noun Game Printable Cards.” Students can work with a partner or in small groups to draw a card and name a proper noun that matches the common noun displayed. As a small group/whole class activity, draw a noun card out of a container, set a timer, and allow small groups or partners to brainstorm as many proper nouns as they can that would fit that common noun-category. For example, “cereal” could generate “Lucky Charms, Rice Krispies, Frosted Flakes............”
- Complete grammar worksheet “Identifying Proper Nouns.”
- Extra Engagement: Use the information presented within the sheet to model sentences on a whiteboard or smartboard to create a whole class lesson. Cut the sheet apart, gluing the related answers from the answer key on the back to use within a cooperative learning structure or as a self-checking center activity.
- Tip: During reading and writing activities, ask students to identify the nouns, proper nouns, and actions verbs in sentences they read and write. Bringing the parts of speech into students' everyday reading and writing activities makes grammar a more concrete and less abstract concept
Second Grade
- Complete grammar sheets “Identifying More Proper Nouns.”
- Extra Engagement: Use the information presented within the sheet to model sentences on a whiteboard or smartboard to create a whole class lesson. Cut the sheet apart, gluing the related answers from the answer key on the back to use within a cooperative learning structure or as a self-checking center activity.
Third Grade
- Consider review activities highlighted in second grade for review or warm up lessons. Complete grammar sheet “Using Proper Nouns” on the smartboard or interactive whiteboard as a whole class or partner activity.
Fourth Grade
- Complete “Using Proper Nouns” and/or “Editing for Proper Nouns” to reinforce the purpose of their use within writing and to highlight their mechanics.
Fifth Grade
- Review “Using Proper Nouns” and/or “Editing for Proper Nouns” to reinforce the purpose of their use within writing and to highlight their mechanics.