Capital Letters and Full Stops

Overview

This is lesson 8 of 16 in “Labels, Facts and Sentences”. Pupils build on their understanding of sentences and factual writing by editing a short fact paragraph, correcting sentences collaboratively, and writing their own correctly punctuated facts.

Learning intentions

• WALT use a capital letter at the beginning of every sentence.
• WALT use a full stop at the end of every sentence.
• WALT edit and write simple factual sentences.
• WALT explain how capital letters and full stops help readers.

Success criteria

• I can begin every sentence with a capital letter.
• I can end every sentence with a full stop.
• I can check my writing by reading each sentence aloud.
• I can write clear factual sentences about a familiar topic.

Curriculum links

• English — Year 1 vocabulary, grammar and punctuation: introduction to capital letters and full stops to demarcate sentences.
• English — Year 1 writing: beginning to punctuate sentences using a capital letter and a full stop.
• English — Year 1 writing: using capital letters appropriately, including for names, places, days of the week and the pronoun “I”.
• English — Year 2 vocabulary, grammar and punctuation: use of capital letters and full stops to demarcate sentences, supporting mixed Year 1 and 2 pupils.

Lesson structure (45 minutes)

1. 0–10 min · Hook and revisit. Open the hook and learning intention slides and display two versions of the same fact: “cats have whiskers” and “Cats have whiskers.” Ask pupils which is easier to read and why; pupils use finger actions to show “capital letter” and “full stop”, then share examples of sentence beginnings and endings.

2. 10–25 min · I do: teacher modelling. Display the short paragraph from the teacher modelling slides: “the moon is not a star it shines by reflecting light the moon travels around Earth”. Think aloud while editing it, modelling how to find where one sentence ends, add full stops, begin the next sentence with a capital letter, and reread for sense. Emphasise that “Earth” is a place name and needs a capital letter. Pupils help identify each correction and explain the reason for it.

3. 25–40 min · We do: shared correction. Show the unpunctuated sentences on the shared correction slides and invite pupils to discuss each one with a partner before responding. Correct examples such as “Bees make honey”, “A dog has four legs” and “I can see the River Thames”; pupils point to the beginning and end of each sentence, use punctuation cards or air-write the marks, and rehearse the sentences aloud.

4. 40–55 min · You do: independent writing. Distribute the factual sentence editing and writing worksheet. Pupils add missing capital letters and full stops to short facts, then write three factual sentences about an animal, plant or familiar object. Remind them to use finger spaces, reread each sentence, and check the first and last mark. Confer with pupils who need one-to-one checking.

5. 55–60 min · Plenary and exit check. Return to the plenary and self-check slides and display “the sun is a star”. Pupils correct it independently on their fingers or mini whiteboards, then explain the two changes. Ask pupils to self-assess against the success criteria by showing one, two or three fingers; collect a quick verbal sample from pupils who need further support.

Resources

• the complete punctuation teaching deck
• the factual sentence editing and writing worksheet
• Punctuation cards showing capital letters and full stops
• Enlarged paragraph for teacher modelling
• Mini whiteboards, pens and erasers
• Visual timer
• Pencils and coloured editing pens
• Word bank with familiar factual vocabulary
• Finger-spacing prompts or spacing tools

Assessment

• During modelling and shared correction, check whether pupils can explain where a sentence begins and ends and choose the correct punctuation.
• While pupils complete the worksheet, scan for capital letters, full stops, spacing and sentence meaning; provide immediate prompts and record pupils needing reteaching.
• Use the final sentence, “the sun is a star”, as an exit check. Note pupils who omit either punctuation mark for the next lesson’s starter or intervention.

Differentiation

• Support SEN and EAL pupils with enlarged text, colour-highlighted sentence beginnings and endings, punctuation cards, a simple factual word bank, oral rehearsal and finger-spacing prompts. Read worksheet instructions aloud and reduce the number of sentences where needed.
• Work with a focused group or provide one-to-one checking during independent writing. Prompt with: “Where does your sentence start?”, “What does it need at the end?” and “Read it back to me.”
• Pair pupils strategically for the shared task. Accept oral answers before writing and model vocabulary with clear pictures or gestures.
• Extension pupils edit a longer factual paragraph containing several missing capital letters and full stops, then write an additional fact including a proper noun such as a person, place or day of the week.