Adrienne Dell’Aquila

School of Education
The College of New Jersey

Title or Topic: Some Poppin’ Proper Nouns

Grade Level: Kindergarten

Lesson Essential Question(s): What are proper nouns? How are proper nouns classified?

Standards:
New Jersey:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.K.6
Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.K.3
Ask and answer questions in order to seek help, get information, or clarify something that
is not understood.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.K.1
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when
writing or speaking.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.K.1.A
Print many uppercase and lowercase letters.

Learning Objectives Learning Assessment

Students will understand what proper
nouns are and will be able to explain why
some nouns are proper while others are not.
Each table will be given a word and
students will work collaboratively with
their group members to decide if the noun
is a common noun or a proper noun. Once
decided, the students will hang their word
up on either the common noun section or
proper noun section on the white board.

Materials:
 Poster of proper nouns
 2 popcorn poster containers
 Popcorn papers

Pre-Lesson assignments and/or prior knowledge:

Prior to this lesson, students have learned that the definition of a noun is a person, place,
thing or idea. Before beginning the lesson, the teacher will give a brief review of what a
noun is in order to ensure that all students understand what defines a noun before
introducing proper nouns.

Lesson Beginning:
The teacher will begin the lesson by asking students the question: Can anyone tell me
what a noun is or tell me an example of a noun? Once hearing some responses, the
teacher will give a brief overview of what a noun is and will provide some examples.
This explanation will lead into the lesson on how to identify a proper noun. The teacher
will explain that a noun is a person, place, thing, or an idea while a proper noun is a
SPECIFIC person, place, thing, or idea.

Instructional Plan:
The teacher will explain the difference between a common noun and a proper noun. The
teacher will explain that a proper noun is a specific person, place, thing, or idea. Focusing
on people and pets, the teacher will provide several examples explaining the differences.
For example, the word “girl” is written with all lowercase letters and is a common noun
because the term does not indicate a specific girl. However, the name “Megan” is
capitalized because it is indicating a specific girl. Similarly, the term “dog” is lowercase
and a common noun whereas a dog named “Biscuit” is uppercase and a proper noun. The
teacher will provide several examples in order to enhance student understanding. After
this, the teacher will pass out popcorn shaped paper with a noun on it to each table. The
tables will have a few minutes to decide if their word is a common noun or a proper
noun. Once a few minutes have passed, the teacher will call on one table at a time and ask
for the students to place their popcorn piece on either the common noun popcorn
container or the proper noun popcorn container hanging on the white board. By doing so,
students will have the opportunity to learn examples of common and proper nouns. The
students will have several examples on the board that outline the differences between
common nouns and proper nouns. Once all examples are explained, the teacher will close
the lesson by sharing a poem about proper nouns.

Differentiation:
To begin, the teacher will ask the students to explain what a noun is and/or provide an
example of a noun. For the students who may not remember what a noun is, after hearing
some responses, the teacher will explain to the entire class the definition of a noun and
will provide several examples. During the table activity, the teacher will walk around to
each table and check in to ensure that each student understands the task being asked of
him/her. If there are some students who are having trouble determining the difference
between a common noun and a proper noun, the teacher will provide more examples and
definitions of both. If a table is finished before others, I will provide another noun for the
students to work on while other tables finish. When each table shares their word and
determines whether or not the noun is a common noun or a proper noun, the students will
place their noun in the appropriate spot. Once doing so, the teacher will further explain
why the table placed their noun in either the common noun or proper noun section on the
white board in order to make sure that all students understand why the noun belongs in
the specific category.

Questions:
Beginning of the lesson: Who remembers what a noun is? Who can recall some examples
of nouns?
Middle of lesson: Which nouns are common nouns and which nouns are proper nouns?
End of lesson: What are examples of common nouns and proper nouns? When is a noun a
proper noun?
Classroom Management:
In the beginning of the lesson, the teacher will make sure all eyes are directed toward her
before beginning lesson. If students begin to get distracted or disruptive, the teacher will
use clap in rhythm and wait for students to respond with their own clap. When working in
groups, the teacher will ensure that the classroom volume level remains at a talking tone
and does not get too loud in order to not be distracting to others. If it does get too loud,
the teacher will clap again and wait for students to clap back. Once students’ attention is
directed toward the teacher, she will remind students to use classroom voices.

Transitions:
Once explaining a definition and discussing several examples with the class, the teacher
will transition to explain proper nouns as a specific type of noun. Once establishing the
difference between common nouns and proper nouns, the teacher will transition by
explaining to the students that she would love for them to try some examples. Once
passing out an example to each table, she will walk around until all groups have decided
if their noun is a common noun or a proper noun. After doing so, the teacher will shift the
attention back to the front of the room in order to begin the activity of placing the nouns
on the board. Once the activity is completed the teacher will wrap up the lesson by
sharing a closing poem about proper nouns, which reiterates when nouns are classified as
proper.

Closure:
The teacher will close the lesson by sharing a poem about proper nouns (from ESL
printables). After sharing this poem, the teacher will make connections to the entire
lesson by reiterating when to use proper nouns. The teacher will then make a connection
to the Kid Writing the students participate in by encouraging them to try to implement
some proper nouns into their writing now that they have learned what proper nouns are.
 Proper Noun Poem
ESL Printables

Every name is a proper noun,

So put a capital letter down.

Months and days are nice enough,

But capital letters make them big stuff!

States and towns across this land

Need capital letters to make them grand.

A capital letter is the way to start