CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.5.2d

ELA5th GradeConventions of Standard English

The Standard

Use underlining, quotation marks, or italics to indicate titles of works.

Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students decide how to format a title based on the kind of work named. They use quotation marks for shorter works and italics, or handwritten underlining, for longer works.
What Mastery Looks Like: Students correctly format titles in their own sentences and when editing a passage. They can explain why a poem title and a book title receive different treatment.
Common Misconceptions: Students may put quotation marks around every title. They may also underline and italicize the same title, or confuse a song title with an album title.
How to Assess It: Give this exit ticket: Correct the title formatting in, “We read the poem Casey at the Bat and watched the film Akeelah and the Bee.”

Lesson moves

Have pairs sort cards naming books, poems, songs, films, and articles, then add the correct title formatting to each card.
Ask students to write two sentences explaining why a song title and its album title are formatted differently.
Play a title-formatting relay where teams correct one sentence at a time using quotation marks, italics, or handwritten underlining.
Examine titles on book covers, magazine contents pages, and music listings, then record how each type of work is formatted.

Free download

A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.5.2d, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.

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