“Why do we use capital letters?” Your students might ask.

Well, capitalized letters might seem a silly thing. But they actually serve many vital purposes:

They tell us when a new sentence is starting. They tell us which words in a title are most important. And, they tell us which words are official names for things, like places and people.

Plus, you can tell your students that capital letters are crucial to spelling their own very important names. 😉

But it’s more than just telling your students why capital letters are important—showing them does more. And our capitalization activity gives your students a fun way to get hands-on with this element of sentence structure while helping to solidify the concept!

How to Play This Engaging Capitalization Game with your Students

This resource is best used in a writing small group or as a writing center activity.

To play, the students will draw a card and read the sentence to decide which word needs a capital letter.

Our capital letters game can also be used as a scoot activity with your class.

More Activities that Extend Our Capitalization Game 

Are your students not only learning to write but edit their work too? Here’s how to make the most of this capitalization game with your class!

Scoot Activity

Turn this game into a capitalization activity for your whole class to enjoy! Place all 20 cards around the room and ask students to stand up with their recording sheet. Assign one card to each student to start, having students rotate through each of the cards, writing their answers on the recording sheet.

Note: You can ask students to record their answers on a sheet of paper they’ve numbered 1-20, or you can download the game in its Google Slides form and delete the answers from the answer key to create a blank sheet.

Circle Up

Print off the tasks cards as worksheets (no need to cut them out) and ask students to use a pencil to circle the letters on their cards that need capitalization. Then, ask them to pass their worksheet to a classmate to edit their work. If you have students who need extra help identifying capital letters, assign this as a partner activity.

Class Review

Turn this game into a review session at the end of your lesson or right before a test to give students some extra practice. Use your smartboard or other projection devices to display the cards to your class in order 1-20. On a separate sheet of paper numbered 1-20, ask the students to rewrite the word that should have a capital letter.

Change the Difficulty Level if Needed

If students have mastered the skill, they can rewrite the sentence and add more capitalized words and details to strengthen the sentences.

If students are struggling to identify the words that need to be capitalized, read the sentence aloud to the student and help them orally identify the noun. Then read through each word together to help them identify the word that needs capitalization. An anchor chart might also help remind students that the pronoun I, people’s names, and the beginning of a sentence all need capitalization.

Easily Prepare This Resource for Your Students

Print the task cards on cardstock for added durability and longevity.

After printing, cut out the task cards and place everything in a folder or large envelope for your writing center.

Before You Download

Please note this resource is available in Google Slides or as a PDF. An answer key is also included with this download.

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This resource was created by Lauren Piper, a teacher in Illinois and a Teach Starter Collaborator.