Strategies for Classroom Use
From my own practicum experiences, I have found that many educators struggle to teach basic writing conventions (spelling, punctuation, or grammar rules) in an engaging way. Peterson introduces capitalization in a fun and engaging game of Bingo. I have modified some aspects of these lessons to incorporate some of the elements that we have discussed in our Master of Teaching courses. This lesson would be appropriate for a junior level classroom.
Capitalization Bingo
Objective (1 minute)
For students to remember capitalization rules when writing.
Resources
Mental Set/Demonstration (15 minutes)
Group the students and have them brainstorm some complete sentences that have titles, the word "I", days and months, names of people and animals, titles before people's names, names of companies, streets, towns, abbreviations, holidays, and nationalities. Choose a few sentences and write them on the board without any capitalization. Have students come up to the board and add capitals where appropriate and correct as a class when necessary. See Peterson (2003) page 107 for examples and uses of capital letters.
Practice (20 minutes)
Hand out a blank bingo card and bingo squares sheet to each student. Tell them to paste the squares in any order on their bingo card, as long as all the squares are filled.
For students to remember capitalization rules when writing.
Resources
- bingo tabs (clear or opaque counters could work)
- scissors
- glue
- prizes (stickers, candy, bookmarks)
- bingo card squares (p. 108)
- bingo cards (p. 109)
- teacher bingo card (p. 110)
Mental Set/Demonstration (15 minutes)
Group the students and have them brainstorm some complete sentences that have titles, the word "I", days and months, names of people and animals, titles before people's names, names of companies, streets, towns, abbreviations, holidays, and nationalities. Choose a few sentences and write them on the board without any capitalization. Have students come up to the board and add capitals where appropriate and correct as a class when necessary. See Peterson (2003) page 107 for examples and uses of capital letters.
Practice (20 minutes)
Hand out a blank bingo card and bingo squares sheet to each student. Tell them to paste the squares in any order on their bingo card, as long as all the squares are filled.
Blank Bingo Card
Cut and Paste Bingo Squares
Teacher's Bingo Card
Click to set custom HTML
While reading the story "Buried Treasure in Cutthroat Cave" (p. 111), have students cover the correct capitalization rule on their own bingo card with the bingo tabs. Play until a student gets a full row or column on their card and give them a small prize for winning.
Check for Understanding
The teacher should be circulating during the bingo game to ensure that students are putting the bingo tabs onto the right squares.
Closure (5 minutes)
In a group discussion, ask students to repeat some of the capitalization rules they were introduced to or reminded of.
The teacher should be circulating during the bingo game to ensure that students are putting the bingo tabs onto the right squares.
Closure (5 minutes)
In a group discussion, ask students to repeat some of the capitalization rules they were introduced to or reminded of.