Whew! What a week. The first week of school is always crazy learning new faces, new expectations, new rooms and new schedules. The good news is that we all survived and the hardest week of the school year is behind us. Smooth sailing from here. In language arts class this past week I wanted to start everyone off on an easy but very important note...Capitalization! Even the most creative, exciting, spectacular story will not get the recognition it deserves if it is full of mechanical mistakes. Students this week were reminded that words need to be capitalized if they are at the beginning of a sentence, quote or title, a proper noun or proper adjective: holidays, days of the week, months, organizations, names, initials, etc. Most of this was review but bits were maybe new information for them. When looking over your students homework please be mindful of if they are using capitalization where they should- this even applies to math, reading or science homework. Also be on the lookout in letters to grandparents, birthday cards, notes to friends, e-mails, etc. The more you show them that mechanical rules are important the better it will stick in their brains. I am looking forward to a great year with your student! Want to have your student practice more on capitalization at home? Have them play this game online called "Magical Capitals". We played this in class and so they will be familiar with how to play.
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/grammar/capitalization.htm
