LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Goal 5

The learner will apply grammar and language conventions to communicate effectively.

Objective 5.01

Use correct capitalization (e.g., names of languages, nationalities, musical compositions) and punctuation (e.g., commas in a series, commas in direct address, commas and quotation marks in dialogue, apostrophes in possessives).

Resources aligned to this objective

Animal report
After studying the various animal groups, students write a report about an animal of their choosing using well-formed paragraphs.
Format: lesson plan (grade 4 Information Skills, English Language Arts, and Science)
By Kay Sims.
Appositive Action
Appositives are descriptive phrases, set off by commas, that modify a noun or noun phrase. Using appositives helps writers create sentences that are smoother and less choppy. In this lesson, students will learn to combine 2 or more descriptive sentences and action sentences into one sentence with an appositive phrase.
Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)
By DPI Writing Strategies.
Blackbeard: The Most Feared Pirate of the Atlantic
Students will acquire information about Blackbeard through primary resources and apply their knowledge to create a newspaper article concerning his life.
Format: lesson plan (grade 4 Information Skills, English Language Arts, Social Studies, and Computer Technology Skills)
By Carol Holden and Tanya Klanert.
Cloudy with a chance of...what?
Students will enjoy reading about a town where no one ever goes hungry because the sky provides food while learning about weather, healthy and unhealthy foods, and creating a database.
Format: lesson plan (grade 2–4 Healthful Living Education, English Language Arts, Computer Technology Skills, and Science)
By BJ Larson and Paula Sharpe.
Connecting Folktales and Culture in North Carolina and Beyond
Students will explore connections to North Carolina culture as they engage in reading and analyzing three folktales of North Carolina Literary Festival author, William Hooks. After comparing these stories to other versions of the traditional tales, students will become authors and storytellers themselves as they rewrite a tale from a new cultural point of view. Opportunities are also included to extend this study to world cultures and folktales.
Format: lesson plan (grade 4 and 8 English Language Arts, Social Studies, and Computer Technology Skills)
By Jeanne Munoz.
Dear Peter Rabbit
Students will identify formal language and sentence structures in friendly letters. They will use similar formal language and style to create friendly letters to other story book characters.
Format: lesson plan (grade 4 Information Skills and English Language Arts)
By Caroline Annas, Elizabeth Gibson, and Stephanie Johnson.
Diamante Poetry Using Environments Day 3
This lesson will introduce and reinforce learners' understanding of habitat components within an environment.

This lesson is one in a series of lessons: Understanding Animal Adaptation (Day 1), Animal Environments (Day 2), Diamante Poetry Using Environments (Day 3).
Format: lesson plan (grade 4 English Language Arts and Science)
By Cheri Cole.
Stop That Run-On!
Run-on sentences inhibit understanding and weaken someone's writing. In this lesson, students will learn to identify run-on sentences and how to fix them. They will then apply those skills to their own writing.
Format: lesson plan (grade 1–4 English Language Arts)
By DPI Writing Strategies.
What's the Point? A Lesson on Point of View
After reading Good Dog, Carl by Alexandra Day students will write the story from a chosen character's point of view. This lesson can be used with other wordless picture books.
Format: lesson plan (grade 4 English Language Arts, English Language Development, and Computer Technology Skills)
By Eileen Carter and Tracey Casto.

Lesson plans on the web

All about our town: Using brochures to teach informational writing
In this lesson, students create brochures that explore their towns and the landmarks, symbols, and people that make them unique places to live. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 3–4 English Language Arts)
Provider: IRA/NCTE
Author study: Improving reading comprehension using inference and comparison
In this lesson, students review several texts by one illustrator/author, practice making inferences about that author, and then check their inferences against the author's online biography. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 4–5 English Language Arts)
Provider: IRA/NCTE
Characters in Because of Winn–Dixie: Making lists of ten
Using the children's book,Because of Winn–Dixie, students learn about characterization techniques by creating lists of ten features that identify a character. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 4 English Language Arts)
Provider: IRA/NCTE
Dancing minds and shouting smiles: Teaching personification through poetry
In this lesson, students learn about personification by reading and discussing poems by Emily Dickinson, William Blake, and Langston Hughes. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)
Provider: IRA/NCTE
Dear Librarian: Writing a persuasive letter
Inspired by the actions in Beverly Cleary’s book Emily’s Runaway Imagination, in this lesson plan, students write to their school librarian, requesting that a specific text be added to the library collection. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)
Provider: IRA/NCTE
Letter poems deliver: Experimenting with line breaks in poetry writing
Students transform narrative-style letters into poetry in this lesson that explores the poetic devices of rhythm, sound, meaning, and appearance. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)
Provider: IRA/NCTE
Looking at landmarks: Using a picture book to guide research
This lesson uses Chris van Allsburg’s Ben’s Dream, a picture book about ten major landmarks in the world, to introduce a brief research unit. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 4–5 English Language Arts and Social Studies)
Provider: IRA/NCTE
Our classroom: Writing an owner's manual
This lesson helps to establish a sense of community with students collaboratively writing an “owner’s manual” that describes expectations and guidelines for the classroom. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)
Provider: IRA/NCTE
Who's got mail? Using literature to promote authentic letter writing
This brief activity uses literature and shared writing to teach letter-writing format and promote authentic letter writing. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)
Provider: IRA/NCTE
Writing and assessing an autobiographical incident
Students build upon their knowledge of biographies to write their own autobiographical incident. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 4 Computer Technology Skills and English Language Arts)
Provider: IRA/NCTE