Systematic and Explicit Instruction on Using Common and Proper Nouns in Complete Sentences

What are Common and Proper Nouns?

Proper nouns are nouns that name a specific person, place, or thing. We capitalize proper nouns. For example, a kid is a noun, but Sally is a proper noun. A theme park is a noun, and Disneyland is a proper noun. Toothpaste is a noun, and Colgate is a proper noun. When things are named as proper nouns, we are usually using a brand name, such as Apple or Kleenex. Things as proper nouns can get a little confusing, so if you have younger students, you will want to focus on people and places.

Here is a video to help your students understand proper nouns.

Example Sentences

After introducing proper nouns to your students, you will want to show them examples. When looking at example sentences, point out the capitalized first letter, spacing between words, and ending punctuation. Speaking of ending punctuation. I recommend sticking with periods until you can give a lesson on the other types of ending punctuation.

This should be a quick part of the lesson. You can ask students what they notice but quickly point out the important parts of the sentence. In this case, make sure your students notice that proper nouns are capitalized, and singular proper nouns do not usually have articles, but some plural proper nouns do.

Common and Proper Nouns Pictures

You can show these five pictures to your students to help them brainstorm proper nouns. Give students about thirty seconds to think about each picture. Then, have them share with a partner. Finally, collect three to five ideas per picture to record in a class anchor chart.

As a heads up, the picture of the mountain shows Mount Everest, and the picture of the boat shows the Titanic.

Printable Resources

These ideas will get you started teaching your common and proper nouns lessons, but we have printable resources that will make a huge difference. Luckily, my team at For the Love has you covered! You can get all of these resources to make planning and teaching a breeze!

Word List: A list of words for the lesson for when your mind goes blank while brainstorming.

Word Chart: A tool for students to organize words they will use to write sentences. Students record words from brainstorming on their word charts, so when they write sentences, they can focus their attention on the mechanics and syntax of the sentence instead of coming up with new ideas. Word charts are the perfect place to integrate social studies and science lessons into writing.

Example Sentences: A list of example sentences that fit the purpose of the lesson. You can use these to build anchor charts, differentiate instruction or practice for students, or clarify your own understanding of the topic.

Sentence Practice: Students will use the words from their word charts to write complete sentences. The sentence practice pages have more suggestion words as well as reminders about the mechanics of a complete sentence. Students who do not need the support of the handwriting lines can write on a piece of notebook paper, or you can give them the alternate writing paper. It does not have the specific lesson information on it.

You can get the lesson on common and proper nouns at Teachers Pay Teachers.

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