Sentences, capitals, and punctuation (grade 1) · lesson

Whole sentences

💡 A sentence tells who and what. It has a capital and an end mark.

The dog runs fast. That tells who and what.

An asking sentence ends with a question mark.

🧠 How to think about it

Ask two things. Who is it about? What do they do? If both are there, it is a sentence.

sentence: a group of words that tells a whole idea

🏡 Try it at home

Say half a sentence, like the big dog. Your child finishes it.

Naming words

💡 Nouns name people, places, and things, and names get capitals.

Girl is any girl. Maria is one special girl, so it gets a capital.

Dog's bone means the bone belongs to the dog.

🧠 How to think about it

Is it one special name? Give it a capital.

noun: a word that names a person, place, or thing

🏡 Try it at home

Name things in your home. Then name a special one, like your town.

Action words

💡 Verbs tell what someone does and when.

He hops. We hop. Add s with he or she.

I will play is later. I played is in the past.

🧠 How to think about it

Say the sentence with each word. Which one sounds right?

verb: an action word

🏡 Try it at home

Act out a verb. Say I jump, she jumps, and I will jump.

Words for names

💡 Pronouns like he, she, it, and they take the place of names.

Mia has a cat. She feeds it. She means Mia.

It means the cat.

🧠 How to think about it

Who does the word stand for? Pick the one that fits.

pronoun: a word that takes the place of a name

🏡 Try it at home

Tell about a friend. Use the name once, then use he or she.

Joining words

💡 Words like and, but, so, and because join two ideas.

So shows what happened next: I was hungry, so I ate.

Because tells why: I ate because I was hungry.

🧠 How to think about it

Read both parts. Is the second part a result, a reason, or a surprise?

join: put together

🏡 Try it at home

Start a sentence with I was tired, so. Your child finishes it.

Capitals and commas

💡 Months and names get capitals, and commas go in dates and lists.

May 4, 2026 has a comma before the year.

Eggs, milk, and bread has a comma after each thing.

🧠 How to think about it

Look at each capital. Look at each comma. Is each in the right spot?

comma: a mark that shows a short stop

🏡 Try it at home

Write a short shopping list. Put commas between the things.