Writer's Choice Grade 6

Unit 18: Capitalization

Overview

When the ancient Romans wanted to remember an important person or event, they would build a stone monument. The words carved into the stone were usually in capital letters.

Today, capital letters call attention to important words. Capitalize the first word of a sentence and the first word of a direct quotation. Also, capitalize the first word in the salutation and closing of a letter. Use capital letters for proper nouns such as a person's name (Tanya), the name of a place (Michigan), or the name of a club (Girl Scouts). Capitalize titles that come before someone's name (Capt. Kirk or Principal Smith) and initials (W.J. Smith). The days of the week (Sunday), months of the year (March), and holidays (Labor Day) are always capitalized. Adjectives that are formed from proper nouns are called proper adjectives and are capitalized (Mexican cooking).

Study this unit (pp. 472-487) to find out more about capitalization rules.