EdTPA Lesson Plan Format, Grades 1 – 6
Fordham University Graduate School of Education
EXPLANATION
CONTEXT & The Capitalization Review writing lesson is intended to review the proper use of capitalization in writing.
DEMOGRAPHICS The class is currently writing small-moment personal-narratives. Their personal-narratives include a
beginning, middle and end, and an ever-increasing amount of detail, such as lists and dialogue.
The class is an integrated co-teaching class with 25 students. Four students are reading below grade level
between emergent reader and low 1st grade reading levels. Additionally, there are 4 students reading at a high
first grade level (E/F). Six students are enrolled in a school-based program called Read Ahead and receive
extra reading support one day each week. Five students have IEPs, and receive services including speech
therapy and guidance counseling; one of these students has been diagnosed on the Autism Spectrum. There
are three students in temporary housing. There are no English Language Learners in the class.
CENTRAL FOCUS or How would our small moments look if we left out capital letters?
ESSENTIAL QUESTION
LEARNING TARGETS & Students will be able to accurately employ the correct capital letters within their personal narrative, guided
ASSESSMENTS reading response, and other writing assignments. They will be re-introduced to the idea of reviewing and
editing their writing, to correct mistakes. The goal of this lesson is for them to edit their work for
(AIM / OBJECTIVE) capitalization errors, both failing to use a capital letter when it is needed, and/or using it incorrectly.
Pre-assessment has been completed, through observation of students small moment personal-narratives,
where many students continue to struggle in the employment and use of proper capitalization in their writing
A key gateway for this lesson is student participation in the whole class activity, which will be
adding/correcting capitalization mistakes in sentences, as well as the observation of student work during their
independent work time. During their independent work, students will correct a brief small moment personal-
narrative that has several capitalization errors (either missing capital letter or the incorrect use of a capital
letter.) If they struggle to complete this, key points will be retaught.
Summative assessments will be completed in through a review of students in-class independent work.
NYS Common Core Knowledge of Language, 3: Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different
STANDARDS contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or
listening.
Language Standard, Grade 2:
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard
English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when
writing.
a. Capitalize holidays, product names, and geographic
names.
b. Use commas in greetings and closings of letters.
c. Use an apostrophe to form contractions and frequently
occurring possessives.
REVIEW: Language Standard, Grade 1:
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when
writing.
a. Capitalize dates and names of people.
b. Use end punctuation for sentences.
c. Use commas in dates and to separate single words in a series.
REVIEW: Language Standard, Kindergarten:
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard
English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when
writing.
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a. Capitalize the first word in a sentence and the
pronoun I.
b. Recognize and name end punctuation.
Academic Language The academic language for this lesson is capitalization, reviewing, and editing.
- Capitalization is writing of a word with its first letter in uppercase and the remaining letters in lowercase.
- Reviewing is re-reading our work to ensure it makes sense and has our complete thoughts (all you wanted to
say).
- Editing is when people make corrections or changes to their work.
GROUPING The lesson will begin as whole group instruction as the teacher and students refer back to previous days read-
aloud book, Punctuation Takes a Vacation, explaining how punctuation and capitalization are related, and
reviewing capitalization rules. – 8 minutes
Following this, the teacher and students will work together to correct a small moment narrative to have the
correct capital letters throughout, while reviewing capitalization rules again. – 8 minutes
Demonstration of worksheet to whole class on projector. – 2 minutes
Finally, students will work independently to complete a worksheet using incorrect or correct capital letters..
Several students who have displayed particular difficulty with the use of capitalization will be provided extra
support through small group instruction. Students who finish early will be given their small-moment personal
narratives to read and review for capitalization errors, and to make necessary corrections. – 15 minutes
The lesson will close as a whole group lesson, where the teacher reviews the small moment narrative,
reviewing each of the corrections needed. – 5 minutes
(2 minutes +/- for transitions)
PRIOR ACADEMIC Students should have some familiarity with/knowledge of the Common Core Standards for capitalization
LEARNING AND rules for kindergarten and first grade, and how to use them when writing. Students will also need to know
PREREQUISTE SKILLS punctuation rules, which are important in providing students with additional clues on when to use capital
letters in their writing.
MATERIALS The materials needed for this lesson are:
/RESOURCES
- Capitalization anchor chart outlining the uses of capitalization rules
- Small moment narrative written out on chart paper for modeling / student participation in lesson
- Using Capital Letters Correctly worksheet
INSTRUCTIONAL Motivation or Hook
SEQUENCE
1. How would our small moment narratives look if we left out the capitalization?
- Do we think capitalization is important to ensure our writing is clear?
Rev. 11/2015 Moliterno/Caballero/Huber
Procedures
2. The teacher will begin by referring back to the class reading of Punctuation Takes a Vacation, sharing with
students that punctuation rules are helpful in determining what letters in our writing need to be capitalized.
3. From there, the teacher will begin to review additional capitalization rules. Students will assist in
correcting/completing a small moment narrative that has capitalization errors that require correction..
4. Following this, the teacher will display on the projector how to complete the Using Capital Letters
Correctly worksheet. A small group of students, who have been previously identified as needing extra
support in this area, will work directly with the teacher.
5. For students who have completed their worksheet during independent work time, will be given their small-
moment personal narratives to re-read to correct capitalization mistakes.
Closing
The lesson will be closed by reviewing the small moment narrative on the projector, noting each of the letters
that needed to be changed to a capital letter or from a capital letter.
MODIFICATIONS FOR There are no ESL students in the class, but some of the students in the class read well below the second grade
DIVERSE LEARNERS level and typically work in a small group with a designated co-teacher. There are also several other students
who read at a Kindergarten or late First Grade reading level, for whom some of words in the small moment
could be challenging. To ensure all students will be able to participate in practicing their use of capitalization
rules, these students will receive additional support throughout independent work time.
FOLLOW-UP & Students classroom worksheets will be collected to review understanding of how capitalization is employed
STUDENT WORK in their writing. Students who finish their worksheet will be given the opportunity to begin to edit their small
SAMPLES moment personal-narrative, to correct capitalization errors, which will also reinforce the lesson.
FORMAL ASSESSMENT The content of this lesson will be formally assessed by reviewing students in class work and later, their
& STUDENT VOICE personal narratives. Determining if students have met learning targets will take place through observation and
review of their writing, as they continue to craft the small moment personal-narratives. Students will have an
opportunity to self-asses as they edit their writing, using an editing guide. Students can support their learning
and reinforce the capitalization rules through the classroom anchor chart.
The students worksheets will be reviewed and analyzed for how many corrections they made, compared to
how many mistakes were listed. Student information will be recorded, and used for comparison later.
TEACHER To be completed during lesson reflection response.
SELF-ASSESSMENT
Rev. 11/2015 Moliterno/Caballero/Huber
