RIC-20236 Primary Grammar and Word Study Year 3 – Punctuation

Punctuation
Capital letters
Focus
Capital letters at the beginning of a sentence
Capital letters for proper nouns
Definitions
• Capital letters are upper case letters used to begin a
sentence, for proper nouns and for titles.
Example:
In the last few weeks, we have been practising our
sprinting at training.
Mr Scott was my favourite teacher in Year 5.
The prisoner of Zenda*
• Proper nouns are nouns used to name particular
people, places, titles or things.
Example:
President Stone, Newcastle, Hunter River,
Janet Street
Explanation
• Capital letters are needed for the first word in a
sentence. They are larger than most lower case letters.
• Proper nouns can be considered ‘special’ nouns so
are written with capital letters. Proper nouns include
people’s names, names of places, days of the week,
months, holidays and festivals, countries, nationalities,
languages and religions.
Worksheet information
• Read and discuss the information about capital letters
and some examples.
• The word ‘capital’ is a British interjection and is an
exclamation of delight or surprise. It can also mean
excellent or first rate.
• Give the students sufficient time to read through the
text. Assist with any words which may be unfamiliar,
such as ‘reconnaissance’.
• The students complete Questions 1 independently
then check the answers before proceeding to Question
2. Question 3 can then be completed. Some students
may wish to share their answers for Question 3 while
the class counts the number of capital letters used.
Ideas for further practice
• Research some interesting place names and titles for
people, such as leaders of countries.
• Make a class list of favourite books, writing capital
letters for titles where appropriate.
• Use a world globe, map or atlas to find interesting
names of seas, oceans, rivers, harbours etc.
Answers
1. ‘Capital!’ exclaimed Major Cedric Snodgrass. ‘That’s
the best intelligence I’ve heard this morning! Lower
Weepingford is the best location for our purposes,
although Upper Twaddway is equally suitable. All the
rations have been ordered. The vehicles are good to
go. Our reconnaissance sources have given positive
reports. We’ve included intensive physical training in
our schedule to achieve our goals.
‘So troops! Are we all agreed? Saturday, 30 August
is the day for our picnic. Departure time from home
base is 0900 hours.’
‘Yes Sir!’ replied the troops to their father.
2. (a) 21 (b) 12 (c) 10 (d) 2
3. Teacher check
©R.I.C. Publications
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*R.I.C. Publications ® employs minimal capitalisation for
titles of books and other publications as recommended by
the Style manual for authors, editors and printers,
sixth edition, 2002.
Primary grammar and word study 60
www.ricpublications.com.au R.I.C. Publications ®