Northwest Evaluation Association Learning Continuum Release 1.0

Capitalization - Students can use beginning capitalization, and can properly capitalize proper nouns, adjectives, and the pronoun "I".

Skills and Concepts

RIT Scores between 161 and 170

Use Beginning Capitalization
· Format: Short sentences, simple vocabulary
· Capitalize the first word in the sentence
Capitalize Proper Nouns and Adjectives
· Particular place names: cities, vacation spots, rivers, states
· Days and months
· Family, personal, or professional titles: Dr., Uncle __, Rev., Miss, Mrs.
· Names of people
· Holidays
Capitalize Pronoun "I"
· Vocabulary - capitalized
· Lack of capital for "I" the only error to identify
New Vocabulary: capital letter, capitalized, underlined, sentence, missing words

RIT Scores between 171 and 180

Use Beginning Capitalization
· Capitalize the first word in the sentence
· Capitalize "Dear" in a letter greeting
· Capitalize "Love" in a letter closing
· Capitalize only the first word in a sentence of common nouns
Capitalize Proper Nouns and Adjectives
· Particular place names: states, city and state (both)
· Names of people: first, middle, and last
· Abbreviated professional and personal titles: Mr., Mrs., Dr.
· Initials
· Book titles
· Nationalities
· Street names
· Professional titles (Mayor ___, Congressman ___)
· Differentiate between common and proper nouns
· Correctly capitalize up to four words in the same sentence
· Identify nouns correctly or incorrectly capitalized
Capitalize Pronoun "I"
· Generalize the rule: always capitalize "I"
· Identify or correct several errors including "I" in one sentence
New Vocabulary: pronoun, name

RIT Scores between 181 and 190

Use Beginning Capitalization
· Format: Some sentences more complex, beginning with adverb phrases
· Capitalize the first word in the sentence
· Capitalize the first word in the greeting and closing of a letter
· Capitalize the beginning of each sentence in a short group of sentences
· Recognize a group of words as a sentence, capitalize first word
· Capitalize first word and names
· Capitalize first word of a quotation
· Identify a sentence in which the first word is not correctly capitalized
· Capitalize only the first word in a sentence without proper nouns
Capitalize Proper Nouns and Adjectives
· Format: Towards the end of this range, some of the items require reading multiple sentences in one passage
· Names of people: full name, including initials and titles
· Book or movie titles
· Professional titles
· Identify nouns correctly or incorrectly capitalized
· Correctly capitalize up to four words in the same sentence
· Places: countries, cities, states, vacation spots
· Distinguish between common and proper nouns
· Pets' names
· Historical events
· Course names
· Names of organizations
Capitalize Pronoun "I"
· Identify or correct several errors including "I" in one sentence
· Identify "I" errors twice in the same sentence
New Vocabulary: greeting, letter, title, note, list

RIT Scores between 191 and 200

Use Beginning Capitalization
· Capitalize the first word in the sentence
· Capitalize the first word in the greeting and closing of a letter
· Capitalize first word of a quotation
· Capitalize only the first word in a sentence without proper nouns
· Capitalize the beginning of each sentence in a group of sentences
· Capitalize first word and proper nouns
· Capitalize the first word in the sentence and the first word of a quotation
· Verbalize the rule telling which word in a quotation is always capitalized
Capitalize Proper Nouns and Adjectives
· Format: Most of the items in this range require correct identification of more than one capitalization error, either missing capitals or incorrect capitals
· Places: rivers, mountains, countries, states, cities, monuments, buildings, points of interest
· Book, movie, TV show, magazine titles: know which words to capitalize and which to not capitalize
· Organizations and government bodies
· Distinguish between common and proper nouns
· People's full names, including initials and titles
· Generalize rules of capitalization
· Identify a "proper noun"
· Company and product names
· Nationalities and languages
· Team names
Capitalize Pronoun "I"
· Identify the sentence not capitalized correctly ("I" the error)
· Identify "I" errors twice in the same sentence
New Vocabulary: direct quotation, proper noun, place, phrase, address, magazine

RIT Scores between 201 and 210

Use Beginning Capitalization
· Capitalize the first word in the greeting and closing of a letter
· Capitalize the first word in the sentence
· Capitalize first word of a quotation
· Generalize rules of when to capitalize the first word: sentences, poems, letter greetings
· Distinguish sentences using quotations that are not capitalized correctly
· Capitalize the first word in the sentence and the first word of a quotation
· Capitalize the first word in the sentence, the first word of a quotation, and proper nouns
· Capitalize the beginning of each sentence in a group of sentences, including quotations within sentences
· Capitalize only the first word in a multi-word greeting or closing
Capitalize Proper Nouns and Adjectives
· Format: Most of the items in this range require correct identification of more that one capitalization error, either missing capitals or incorrect capitals
· Format: Longer passages in many of the items
· Full names, including titles and initials
· Particular places, points of interest, buildings, monuments
· Radio and TV station initials
· All titles: which words should and should not be capitalized
· Teams, organization, government bodies
· Countries and continents
· Historical events and eras
· Companies, stores, products
· Differentiate between similar common and proper nouns
· Classes, schools
· Compass directions: when they are correctly and incorrectly capitalized
· Ships
· Identify proper nouns
New Vocabulary: closing, book title, paragraph

RIT Scores between 211 and 220

Use Beginning Capitalization
· Format: Sentences contain various combinations of correctly and incorrectly used capital letters, generally relating to use in quotations, but also first words in sentences, proper/common nouns, capitalizing multiple sentences in a paragraph
· Capitalize only the first word in the greeting and closing of a letter with no proper nouns
· In a quotation, capitalize only the first word if the sentence continues past the part identifying the speaker
Capitalize Proper Nouns and Adjectives
· Format: Most of the items in this range require correct identification of more that one capitalization error, either missing capitals or incorrect capitals
· Format: Most items also call on finer distinctions between common and proper nouns, depending on how they are used in the sentence (Mother, my mother)
· Countries, nationalities, languages
· Holidays, special events
· All titles: what to capitalize and what not to capitalize
· Places, rivers, parks, bridges, monuments...
· Artistic groups
· Compass directions - when to capitalize and when not to
· Buildings, businesses, stores
· Generalize capitalization rules
· Full names, including titles
New Vocabulary: none

RIT Scores between 221 and 230

Use Beginning Capitalization
· Format: Sentences contain various combinations of correctly and incorrectly used capital letters, generally relating to use in quotations, but also first words in sentences, and proper/common nouns
· In a quotation, capitalize only the first word if the sentence continues past the part identifying the speaker
Capitalize Proper Nouns and Adjectives
· Correct identification of more that one capitalization error, either missing capitals or incorrect capitals
· Distinctions between common and proper nouns, depending on how they are used in the sentence (Mother, my mother)
· Generalization of capitalization rules - classifying types of nouns that should be capitalized
· Full names, professional and family titles
· Holidays and special events
· Nationalities, languages, countries, continents
· Towns, cities, particular geographic locations (___ Valley, Mt. ___)
· Organizations, clubs, teams, groups
· All titles
· When to capitalize family relationships
· Classes, courses
· Religions
New Vocabulary: none