This dear valentine activity has K-2nd grade students pick heart word cards for family and school helpers and spell each word on a Valentine card. Answer key included.
Using this Common and Proper Nouns Flash Cards, students sort the Common and Proper Flash Cards to the appropriate category.
Your name gets a capital crown!
Kindergarten is where kids first notice that some words are names. Their own name starts with a big capital letter, and so do the names of friends, pets, their teacher and their town. Kids learn to write their first name with one capital and the rest lowercase, like Maya, not MAYA. They also start to sort naming words: "dog" is any dog, but "Rex" is one special dog. The click moment is a kindergartner pointing at a classmate's name and saying, "It starts big because it's a name!"
Five-year-olds love their names. These moves use that love to teach the capital letter rule.
Each morning, write one student's name on chart paper, slowly, saying, "I start with a capital because it's a name." Clap the syllables and count the letters together. By midyear, every kid has been the star.
Why it works: showing first, practicing together, then letting kids try alone is the "gradual release" model teachers have relied on for decades (Pearson and Gallagher, 1983).
Try it withDear Valentine ActivityActivitiesOpen it →Show a picture of a dog and write "dog," then write the dog's name, "Rex." Ask, "Which one is a special name?" Sorting picture cards this way helps kids feel the difference between common and proper nouns.
Why it works: children learn more from words and pictures together than from words alone (Mayer, 2009).
Try it withCommon and Proper Nouns Flash CardsFlash CardsOpen it →When kids write valentines or cards, have them copy each friend's name from the class name list. Real writing for real friends gives them tons of practice starting names with a capital.
Why it works: kids understand an idea best when they touch it, then draw it, then write it, the order the U.S. Department of Education recommends for elementary math.
Try it withDear Valentine ActivityActivitiesOpen it →Teacher favorites right now: Dear Valentine Activity and Common and Proper Nouns Flash Cards.
A proper noun is a special name for one person, pet or place, like Maya, Rex or Chicago. It always starts with a capital letter.
It is best to teach a capital first letter and lowercase for the rest, like Sam. That matches what they will see in books and use in school.
Practice a little each day using fun tools like crayons, chalk, play dough or a finger in sand. Point out the capital at the start every time.
Kids start noticing names in kindergarten, then learn the terms common and proper nouns in first and second grade.
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