Virginia SOL 3.LU.2.C
The Standard
Capitalize holidays, names, and places.
Virginia Standards of Learning for English · Mechanics
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students identify words that name a specific person, celebration, or location and begin those words with capital letters. They also distinguish specific names from general nouns.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students correctly use capital letters in specific names when writing and editing sentences. They can explain why Richmond is capitalized but city is not.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may capitalize common nouns, such as city or holiday, even when they are not part of a specific name. They may also miss small words within place names or capitalize seasons and general directions unnecessarily.
How to Assess It
- Give students this sentence: “we visited aunt rosa in richmond on thanksgiving.” Ask them to rewrite it with correct capitalization and explain each change.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs word cards such as river, James River, monday, and Labor Day, then have them sort and correct each card.
Ask students to write three sentences about a celebration, a person, and a location, then underline every word that needs a capital letter.
Play Capitalization Detective by displaying sentences and awarding points when teams identify and fix missing or unnecessary capitals.
Have students edit a sample invitation by correcting the capitalization of the guest name, event, street, city, and holiday.
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Printable 3.LU.2.C Worksheet
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