English Language Arts
Grade 2
15 min
Capitalizing titles
Capitalizing titles
Tutorial Preview
1
Introduction & Learning Objectives
Learning Objectives
Identify the first and last word in a title.
Explain that the first and last words in a title are always capitalized.
Identify small words (like 'a', 'of', 'in', 'the') that are not capitalized in the middle of a title.
Identify important words (like nouns and verbs) that are capitalized in the middle of a title.
Correctly capitalize the title of a book, song, or movie.
Find and fix capitalization mistakes in a title.
Have you ever noticed that book titles have big and small letters? 🤔 Let's be detectives and find out why! 🕵️♀️
We will learn the special rules for capitalizing titles. This helps make our writing look neat and professional. It shows everyone which words are the most important!
Real-World Appl...
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Key Concepts & Vocabulary
TermDefinitionExample
TitleA title is the special name for a book, movie, or song. 📖The name of your favorite book, like 'Green Eggs and Ham'.
Capital LetterA capital letter is a big letter used at the start of a sentence or for important words. 🅰️A, B, C are capital letters.
Lowercase LetterA lowercase letter is a small letter. Most letters we write are lowercase. 🔡a, b, c are lowercase letters.
First WordThis is the very first word in the title. It always gets a capital letter. 🥇In 'The Lion King', the first word is 'The'.
Last WordThis is the very last word in the title. It also always gets a capital letter. 🏁In 'The Lion King', the last word is 'King'.
Important WordsThese are the main words in the middle of a title, like names of...
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Key Rules & Conventions
The First and Last Word Rule 🥇🏁
Always capitalize the first word and the last word of a title.
No matter what the word is, if it's at the very beginning or very end, it gets a big letter.
The Important Words Rule 🌟
Capitalize all the important words in the middle.
Words for people, animals, things, and actions get a capital letter.
The Small Words Rule 🐜
Do not capitalize small words in the middle.
Little words like 'a', 'in', 'of', 'the', 'and' stay lowercase unless they are the first or last word.
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Challenging
A student wrote a book title as 'charlie and the chocolate factory'. How many capitalization mistakes did they make?
A.2
B.3
C.4
D.5
Challenging
In the title 'The Adventures of a Boy', why is 'The' capitalized but 'a' is not?
A.'The' is a more important word than 'a'.
B.'The' is the first word of the title, while 'a' is a small word in the middle.
C.You should never capitalize the word 'a' in a title.
D.It is a mistake; both words should be capitalized.
Challenging
Look at two titles: 1. 'A Fish Out of Water' and 2. 'The Land of Stories'. Why are 'of' and 'out' NOT capitalized in these titles?
A.They are both verbs.
B.They are both four letters long.
C.They are both at the end of the titles.
D.They are both small connecting words (prepositions) in the middle.
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