Commas in Addresses + Capitalize Titles

Capital-spot warm-up: teacher writes 5 unedited titles on board (the lion the witch and the wardrobe / thanksgiving / the rocky mountains / boise idaho / mr. ramirez). Children call which words need capitals.

• Affirm each capital
• Bridge to formal rule

Two threads today. THREAD 1: COMMAS IN ADDRESSES. When you write an address inside a sentence, commas separate the parts: city, state. 'We drove to Boise, Idaho.' Comma between Boise and Idaho. And — important — if the sentence continues after the state, you ALSO add a comma after the state. 'We drove to Boise, Idaho, last summer.' Two commas hugging the state. On a friendly-letter envelope, the address is on its own lines, but inside sentences, hug the state. THREAD 2: CAPITALIZE TITLES. Three categories: BOOKS — capitalize the first, last, and all important words ('The Day You Begin'). HOLIDAYS — capitalize ('Thanksgiving', 'Diwali', 'Lunar New Year'). GEOGRAPHIC NAMES — capitalize specific place names ('the Rocky Mountains', 'Boise', 'the Pacific Ocean'). Skip 'the', 'of', 'and' inside titles unless they're first.

• Watch the second comma — many children miss it.

  model We visited Grandma in Seattle, Washington, last June. (Capitals on Grandma, Seattle, Washington, June. Comma between Seattle and Washington. Comma after Washington because the sentence continues.)

  prompt Punctuate: we visited grandma in seattle washington last june.
• Titles have their own comma rule inside the title.

  model I read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe over Thanksgiving. (Caps on first, last, important words of title; 'the' lowercase when not first; comma rules inside title; Thanksgiving as holiday.)

  prompt Capitalize: i read the lion the witch and the wardrobe over thanksgiving.

• How many commas in 'We visited Boise, Idaho, last summer.'?
• Why is 'the' lowercase in 'The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe' (the second 'the')?

M-3-F-GR-18-A Chart

11x17 anchor: 3 numbered rules with examples. Rule 1: comma between city and state ('Boise, Idaho'). Rule 2: NO comma between state and zip ('Boise, Idaho 83702'). Rule 3: comma after state when sentence continues ('We drove to Boise, Idaho, last summer.'). Each rule has a worked example with the comma circled in red. Bottom rule: 'When the address is in a sentence, hug the state with commas.' Print-ready, dyslexic-friendly font.

• Punctuate 6 sentences with addresses, applying comma rule.

  scaffold Address-comma cue card
• Capitalize 6 unedited titles (books, holidays, geographic names).

  scaffold Title-capitalization anchor

M-3-F-GR-18-B Chart

11x17 anchor with 3 sections. Section 1 BOOKS: 'Capitalize first, last, and important words. Skip the, of, and unless first.' Example: 'The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.' Section 2 HOLIDAYS: 'Always capitalize.' Examples: Thanksgiving, Diwali, Lunar New Year, Eid al-Fitr, Hanukkah, Easter, Kwanzaa. Section 3 GEOGRAPHIC NAMES: 'Capitalize specific place names; lowercase ‘the' unless first.' Examples: the Rocky Mountains, the Pacific Ocean, Boise, the Sahara Desert. Print-ready, dyslexic-friendly font, culturally inclusive holiday examples.

• Punctuate: my pen pal lives in austin texas.
• Capitalize: i read where the wild things are.

• Hold up your edits.
• Predict: tomorrow we meet 5 Latin roots — act, port, struct, ject, form.

• Write your own home address in a sentence. Apply the comma rule. Capitalize correctly.