English Language Arts/Reading and Writing
The 6th grade English and Reading curriculum teaches basic skills and competencies in an integrated program that connects all of the language arts. Basic grammar lessons will be interwoven with vocabulary development, literature selections, and composition skills. Study skills and spelling lessons will be an integral part of the overall program.
CAPITALIZATION RULES
A. The first word of every sentence, line of poetry, or direct quotation.
Example: Lydia said, "My lawn doesn't need mowing."
B. Proper nouns, proper adjectives, and titles that precede a name.
Examples: Judge Jones, Uncle James, Chinese food
C. All sacred names, the Bible, and all of its parts, the names of all religious sects, and the names of churches.
Examples:
We found the quotation in the Old Testament in the "book of Job."
"Follow the Christ, the King..."
St. James Lutheran Church, Jewish, Catholic
D. The months, the days of the week, and all holidays.
Examples:
Memorial Day, Monday, the fourth of June
Note: The seasons are not capitalized.
E. The words north, south, east, and west when they refer to a part of the country, but not when they refer to a direction.
Examples:
The company feels that the Northwest offers greater opportunities that the East.
We were driving east.
F. Special events, historical eras, and geographical areas.
Examples:
the Spanish-American War, the Louisiana Purchase, the Boston Tea Party, the Victorian Era
G. Names of special buildings, organizations, and companies.
Examples: Travelers Insurance Company, the Woolworth Building, Rotary Club
H. Titles of books, documents, stories, poems, musical works, art works, and plays. Capitalize all words in titles except prepositions, conjunctions, and the articles a, an, and the.
Examples: The Story of Bermuda, "On Carrying a Cane"
Note: Prepositions of more than four letters are frequently capitalized.
Examples: "Journey Through Brooklyn"
I. The word president when it refers to the President of the United States.
Example: The President vetoed the bill.
J. The names of abbreviations of educational degrees.
Examples: Master of Science, B.A.
K. The names of all races and nationalities.
Examples: Indian costumes, French soldiers, Mexican food
L. Mother and Father unless they are preceded by such words as my, his, yours, etc.
Examples:
I knew Father would coach the team.
I knew that my father would coach the team.
M. Capitalize all languages.
Examples: Spanish, English, Latin, Russian
N. Capitalize school subjects which are languages or which have numbers after them. Do not capitalize other subjects.
Examples: He is taking Russian. I plan to take art and algebra. I plan to take Art 101.
Rules For Capitalization
Rule 1: Capitalize the first word in every sentence.
Also capitalize the first word of a formal, direct quotation.
Example: She said, Please come here.
He said that he was going to go get his whippin stick.
Rule 2: Capitalize the pronoun I.
Rule 3: Capitalize proper nouns.
Commas
1.To separate words in a list or series:
The baby likes grapes, bananas, and cantaloupe.
2.To separate two or more adjectives that come before a noun when andcan be substituted without changing the meaning:
He had a kind, generous nature.
The dog had thick, soft, shiny fur.
Do not use the comma if the adjectives together express a single idea or the noun is a compound made up of an adjective and a noun:
The kitchen had bright yellow curtains.
A majestic bald eagle soared overhead.
3.To set off words or phrases in apposition to a noun:
George Eliot, the great 19th-century novelist, was born in 1819.
Do not use commas when the appositive word or phrase is essential to the meaning of the sentence:
The novelist George Eliot was born in 1819.
4.To set off nonessential phrases and clauses:
My French professor, who has an odd sense of humor, has been teaching for some 30 years.
Do not use commas when the phrase or clause is essential to the meaning of the sentence:
The professor who teaches my French class has an odd sense of humor.
5.To separate the independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction in a compound sentence:
He lives in New York, and she lives in London.
Some people like golf, but others prefer tennis.
6.To set off interrupters such as of course, however, I think, and by the way from the rest of the sentence:
She knew, of course, that he was lying.
By the way, I'll be away next week.
7.To set off an introductory word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of a sentence:
Yes, I'd like to go with you.
After some years, we met again.
Being tall, she often gets teased.
8.To set off a word in direct address:
Thanks, guys, for all your help.
How was your trip, Kathy?
9.To set off a tag question:
You won't do that again, will you?
10.To introduce a short quotation:
The queen said, Let them eat cake!
11.To close the salutation in a personal letter and the complimentary close in a business or personal letter:
Dear Mary, Sincerely, Fred
12.To set off titles and degrees:
Sarah Little, Ph.D. Robert Johnson, Jr.
13.To separate sentence elements that might be read incorrectly without the comma:
As they entered, in the shadows you could see a figure lurking.
14.To set off the month and day from the year in full dates:
The conference will be held on August 6, 2001.
Do not use a comma when only the month and year appear:
The conference will be held in August 2001.
15.To set off the city and state in an address:
Sam Green
10 Joy Street
Boston, MA 02116
If the address is inserted into text, add a second comma after the state:
Cincinnati, Ohio, is their home.
Writing Numbers
1. Spell out numbers you can write in one or two words. If the number is greater than 999,999 use figures followed by the word million or billion, and so on, even if the number could be written in two words.
There are twenty-six students in the class.
The arena holds fifty-five hundred people.
1 million 280 billion 3.2 trillion
2. Use numerals for numbers of more than two words.
The distance between the two cities is 150 miles.
Using Abbreviations
Rule 1: Abbreviate the titles Mr., Mrs., Ms., and Dr. before a persons name. Also abbreviate the professional or academic degrees that follow a persons name, as well as the titles Jr. and Sr.
Examples: Mr. Ed Wilson Jr. Harry Young, M.D. Dr. Ann Sperry
Thomas Diaz, Ph.D. Ms. Shannon Danko, M.B. A.
Rule 2: Use all capital letters and no periods for abbreviations that are pronounced letter by letter or as words. Exceptions are U.S. and Washington, D.C., which do use periods.
Examples: NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration
MVP Most valuable player
FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation
Using Semicolons and Colons
Rule 1: Use a semicolon to join parts of a compound sentence when a conjunction such as and, but, or or is not used. Remember that a compound sentence has two or
more simple sentences that are joined by a conjunction.
· Albert Einstein made many discoveries in science; his theory of relativity
changed scientific thought.
· Einstein was born in Germany in 1879; he moved to the United States in
1933.
· Einstein liked classical music; he played the violin.
Rule 2: Use the colon to introduce a list of items that ends a sentence. Use a phrase such as these, the following, or as follows before the list.
· A list of the greatest scientists in history usually begins with these names: Newton and Einstein.
· Einsteins relativity theory advanced new ideas about the following: time, space, mass, and motion.
· Einstein wrote his famous equation as follows: E=mc2.
Do not use a colon immediately after a verb or a preposition. Either leave out the colon, or reword the sentence.
Rule 3: Use a colon to separate the hour from the minute when you write the time of day.
Rule 4: Use a colon after the salutation of a business letter.
The 6th grade English and Reading curriculum teaches basic skills and competencies in an integrated program that connects all of the language arts. Basic grammar lessons will be interwoven with vocabulary development, literature selections, and composition skills. Study skills and spelling lessons will be an integral part of the overall program.
CAPITALIZATION RULES
A. The first word of every sentence, line of poetry, or direct quotation.
Example: Lydia said, "My lawn doesn't need mowing."
B. Proper nouns, proper adjectives, and titles that precede a name.
Examples: Judge Jones, Uncle James, Chinese food
C. All sacred names, the Bible, and all of its parts, the names of all religious sects, and the names of churches.
Examples:
We found the quotation in the Old Testament in the "book of Job."
"Follow the Christ, the King..."
St. James Lutheran Church, Jewish, Catholic
D. The months, the days of the week, and all holidays.
Examples:
Memorial Day, Monday, the fourth of June
Note: The seasons are not capitalized.
E. The words north, south, east, and west when they refer to a part of the country, but not when they refer to a direction.
Examples:
The company feels that the Northwest offers greater opportunities that the East.
We were driving east.
F. Special events, historical eras, and geographical areas.
Examples:
the Spanish-American War, the Louisiana Purchase, the Boston Tea Party, the Victorian Era
G. Names of special buildings, organizations, and companies.
Examples: Travelers Insurance Company, the Woolworth Building, Rotary Club
H. Titles of books, documents, stories, poems, musical works, art works, and plays. Capitalize all words in titles except prepositions, conjunctions, and the articles a, an, and the.
Examples: The Story of Bermuda, "On Carrying a Cane"
Note: Prepositions of more than four letters are frequently capitalized.
Examples: "Journey Through Brooklyn"
I. The word president when it refers to the President of the United States.
Example: The President vetoed the bill.
J. The names of abbreviations of educational degrees.
Examples: Master of Science, B.A.
K. The names of all races and nationalities.
Examples: Indian costumes, French soldiers, Mexican food
L. Mother and Father unless they are preceded by such words as my, his, yours, etc.
Examples:
I knew Father would coach the team.
I knew that my father would coach the team.
M. Capitalize all languages.
Examples: Spanish, English, Latin, Russian
N. Capitalize school subjects which are languages or which have numbers after them. Do not capitalize other subjects.
Examples: He is taking Russian. I plan to take art and algebra. I plan to take Art 101.
Rules For Capitalization
Rule 1: Capitalize the first word in every sentence.
Also capitalize the first word of a formal, direct quotation.
Example: She said, Please come here.
He said that he was going to go get his whippin stick.
Rule 2: Capitalize the pronoun I.
Rule 3: Capitalize proper nouns.
Commas
1.To separate words in a list or series:
The baby likes grapes, bananas, and cantaloupe.
2.To separate two or more adjectives that come before a noun when andcan be substituted without changing the meaning:
He had a kind, generous nature.
The dog had thick, soft, shiny fur.
Do not use the comma if the adjectives together express a single idea or the noun is a compound made up of an adjective and a noun:
The kitchen had bright yellow curtains.
A majestic bald eagle soared overhead.
3.To set off words or phrases in apposition to a noun:
George Eliot, the great 19th-century novelist, was born in 1819.
Do not use commas when the appositive word or phrase is essential to the meaning of the sentence:
The novelist George Eliot was born in 1819.
4.To set off nonessential phrases and clauses:
My French professor, who has an odd sense of humor, has been teaching for some 30 years.
Do not use commas when the phrase or clause is essential to the meaning of the sentence:
The professor who teaches my French class has an odd sense of humor.
5.To separate the independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction in a compound sentence:
He lives in New York, and she lives in London.
Some people like golf, but others prefer tennis.
6.To set off interrupters such as of course, however, I think, and by the way from the rest of the sentence:
She knew, of course, that he was lying.
By the way, I'll be away next week.
7.To set off an introductory word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of a sentence:
Yes, I'd like to go with you.
After some years, we met again.
Being tall, she often gets teased.
8.To set off a word in direct address:
Thanks, guys, for all your help.
How was your trip, Kathy?
9.To set off a tag question:
You won't do that again, will you?
10.To introduce a short quotation:
The queen said, Let them eat cake!
11.To close the salutation in a personal letter and the complimentary close in a business or personal letter:
Dear Mary, Sincerely, Fred
12.To set off titles and degrees:
Sarah Little, Ph.D. Robert Johnson, Jr.
13.To separate sentence elements that might be read incorrectly without the comma:
As they entered, in the shadows you could see a figure lurking.
14.To set off the month and day from the year in full dates:
The conference will be held on August 6, 2001.
Do not use a comma when only the month and year appear:
The conference will be held in August 2001.
15.To set off the city and state in an address:
Sam Green
10 Joy Street
Boston, MA 02116
If the address is inserted into text, add a second comma after the state:
Cincinnati, Ohio, is their home.
Writing Numbers
1. Spell out numbers you can write in one or two words. If the number is greater than 999,999 use figures followed by the word million or billion, and so on, even if the number could be written in two words.
There are twenty-six students in the class.
The arena holds fifty-five hundred people.
1 million 280 billion 3.2 trillion
2. Use numerals for numbers of more than two words.
The distance between the two cities is 150 miles.
Using Abbreviations
Rule 1: Abbreviate the titles Mr., Mrs., Ms., and Dr. before a persons name. Also abbreviate the professional or academic degrees that follow a persons name, as well as the titles Jr. and Sr.
Examples: Mr. Ed Wilson Jr. Harry Young, M.D. Dr. Ann Sperry
Thomas Diaz, Ph.D. Ms. Shannon Danko, M.B. A.
Rule 2: Use all capital letters and no periods for abbreviations that are pronounced letter by letter or as words. Exceptions are U.S. and Washington, D.C., which do use periods.
Examples: NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration
MVP Most valuable player
FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation
Using Semicolons and Colons
Rule 1: Use a semicolon to join parts of a compound sentence when a conjunction such as and, but, or or is not used. Remember that a compound sentence has two or
more simple sentences that are joined by a conjunction.
· Albert Einstein made many discoveries in science; his theory of relativity
changed scientific thought.
· Einstein was born in Germany in 1879; he moved to the United States in
1933.
· Einstein liked classical music; he played the violin.
Rule 2: Use the colon to introduce a list of items that ends a sentence. Use a phrase such as these, the following, or as follows before the list.
· A list of the greatest scientists in history usually begins with these names: Newton and Einstein.
· Einsteins relativity theory advanced new ideas about the following: time, space, mass, and motion.
· Einstein wrote his famous equation as follows: E=mc2.
Do not use a colon immediately after a verb or a preposition. Either leave out the colon, or reword the sentence.
- Einstein studied mathematics, physics, and English.
- During his lifetime he lived in Germany, Switzerland, and the United States.
Rule 3: Use a colon to separate the hour from the minute when you write the time of day.
- Einsteins train left Princeton at 10:05 A.M. and arrived in New York City
Rule 4: Use a colon after the salutation of a business letter.
- Dear Sir or Madam:
- Dear Mrs. Williams: