Teacher notes for this lesson. Two sides of A4, not for pupils.Mild sheetMedium sheetSpicy sheetAnswers
Teacher notes · not for pupils Punctuation sequence

Big Letter, Special Word

Capital letters for openers, names, days and I

Lesson 2 of 14
Year 1 45 min

Objective

Use a capital letter to open every sentence, and for names of people and places, days of the week and the pronoun I.

Board title: Capital letters  ·  Say it: “Today we're giving every sentence its big letter at the start, and giving names, days and the word I their big letters too.”

Curriculum

  • Y1: capital letters for names of people, places, the days of the week, and the personal pronoun I
  • Y1: capital letters to demarcate sentences (taught here as the first reason)
  • Terminology: capital letter, name, sentence
  • STA domain: G5.1

Success criteria

  • start every sentence with a capital letter
  • give a capital to names of people and places
  • give a capital to the days and the months
  • write the word I as a big letter every time

Key vocabulary

capital letter · name · place · day · month · sentence

Run of the lesson

5 min
Starter: put we ate pizza in rome on the board. Which letters are wrong? Take answers, say 'hold that thought', do not resolve it.
9 min
Model both reasons: We goes big because it opens the sentence, Rome because it is a name. Say the reason aloud before writing each capital, sort the names into people, places, days and months, then drill lowercase i → I as a spelling to be learnt.
8 min
Stamp It!, Mild band. On Mild every item needs exactly one capital, always the opening word and often a name too, so both reasons land at once. Class votes before you tap; name the reason each time.
6 min
Trap and votes: Can i come too? If it means me, the one writing, it is a capital I, anywhere in the line. Four votes, a child says WHY before each reveal (answers: a-right, b-left, c-left, d-right).
14 min
Worksheet, independent. Circulate on Task 3: the tells are the lowercase i and a day left small, so have each writer touch every capital and give its reason, a start, a name, a day, or I.
3 min
Plenary: two children read a Task 3 sentence and the class calls out which letters are big and why. Then the class quiz: which letters in i cook the best pizza in rome must go big?
On screenSPAGhetti → Stamp It! → Mild. One screen only; no pupil devices needed. On Mild every item needs exactly one capital, and it is always the opening word, often a name as well, so both reasons land at once. Medium adds a second capital inside the sentence. ~8 items in 10 minutes with discussion.
SPAGhetti · Punctuation sequence · Lesson 2 of 14  ·  Teacher notes 1 of 2
Teacher notes · not for pupils Big Letter, Special Word · side 2

On the day

If the tech failsSkip the game entirely. Task 1 is the same content on paper, read the four pairs aloud and vote with thumbs. The lesson still works.
If they're on devicesLesson code CAPSA (on the worksheet footer) opens the right game, locks the café until 10 items are done, then unlocks it as the reward.

Misconceptions to watch for

Lowercase i. i like jam. The commonest error at this age. It is one letter and it is always a capital, teach it as a spelling to be learnt, not a rule to be worked out.

Capitals in the middle of a word. The CAfé. Letter formation, not grammar, they are still learning that letters have two shapes. Correct the handwriting and leave the rule alone.

Capitals only for names. Children taught proper nouns first stop capitalising the opener. The game marks the opening word on every item now, so the two reasons stay welded together.

Days and months left small. on monday. They do not feel like names. Group them out loud every time: people, places, days, months, and I.

The three sheets

Same four tasks on every sheet, in the same order, with the same look. Only the demand changes. Print the one each child needs; nobody does two.

Mild

Same four tasks as every other sheet, same order, same look, the demand is lower, not the dignity. Shorter passage in Task 2, and in Task 3 a word bank or words to tick, with printed sentence starters. Give it to anyone who needs a way in, and expect them to move up.

Medium

The core sheet. Give this to most of the class. No word bank; in Task 3 pupils choose from a few close options, then use one in a sentence of their own.

Spicy

Same four tasks, more demand, a longer passage with a subtler error, and Task 3 asks for two things at once. Not extra work; harder work. Nobody should be doing Spicy and the Medium sheet.

Adaptive teaching

  • Support: Task 1, then Task 2 one sentence at a time with the sentence read aloud first. Game on Mild.
  • SEN: gentle mode on; a printed alphabet strip showing both letter shapes on the desk.
  • Stretch: Task 3 extension, one sentence carrying a name and a day. Then try the game on Medium.
  • EAL: pre-teach that English capitalises days and months. Many first languages do not, so this reads as arbitrary until it is named.

Play it

Lesson code CAPSA at playspaghetti.com. The code is printed on the bottom of every pupil sheet with a QR, and Class Quiz in your dashboard opens the plenary quiz for this lesson pre-picked.

SPAGhetti · Punctuation sequence · Lesson 2 of 14  ·  Teacher notes, not for pupils 2 of 2  ·  Ludora