Fifth grade Writing/Language/Reference Guide
Source: Teaching Students to Write by Scott Purdy , Learning Headquarters, Abeka Language B, California State Language Arts Standards
Rewrite/ No excuse words:
a lot
before
our
now
said
there
want
who
hour
about
didn’t
friend
off
school
they’re
well
whose/who’s
first
again
doesn’t
how
once
should
their
were
without
second
always
does
it’s/its
people
spelling
to/too/two
when
world
third
are
English
know
really
talk
until
where
your
fourth
because
every
little
right
then
very
which
you’re
what
all right
enough
remember
whether
fifth
answer
example
sentence
wouldn’t
either
beautiful
explain
surprise
decide
correct
college
favorite
though
lie/lay
express
describe
language
thought
sit/set
believe
Essential to Master
already
different
question
weather
rise/raise
Capitalization Rules: (CR’s)
Rule 1: Capitalize the first word in every sentence. (Meet me at the park.)
Rule 2: Capitalize the first word of a direct quotation. (My neighbor said, “Merry Christmas!”)
Rule 3: Capitalize the pronoun “I”. (My sister and I went shopping at Target.)
Rule 4: Capitalize Proper Nouns.
Examples: names; days; holidays; months; organizations; businesses; nationalities; races; religions;
historical events or periods; ships; awards; streets; cities and states; regions of the country or world;
countries; continents; geographic features; recreation areas; planets; and other particular nouns.
Rule 5: Capitalize proper adjectives.
(American flag; Shetland pony; Victorian poetry)
Rule 6: Capitalize Titles. (books, magazines, poems, and other works of art; and of a person when it comes
before a name- Pastor Jackie; Dr. Fraschetti)
Rule 7: Capitalize nouns referring to the Bible and nouns/pronouns referring to God. (our Creator, God sent
His Son, the Word of God)
Capitalization Do Not’s
Rule -1: Do not capitalize a school subject unless it is a language or numbered course. (History 21, French,
math)
Rule -2: Do not capitalize summer, winter, spring, fall, sun, moon, star, or planet.
Rule -3: Do not capitalize names of family relations when they are preceded by a possessive pronoun.
(My aunt Judy gave me an apple. Vs. Is Aunt Judy coming for dinner?)
Rule -4: Do not capitalize north, south, east, west or any combination when they say which way you are
going. (Usually, these are capitalized after the word ‘the.’)
Rule -5: Do not capitalize the word after a hyphen unless it follows a capitalization rule.
Comma Rules (CM’s)
Rule 1: Use commas to separate three or more items written in a series: (The wind was cold, damp, and gusty).
Rule 2: Use commas to separate two or more adjectives that come before a noun. (the frisky, furry kitten)
Rule 3: Use a comma before the conjunctions and, but, or, nor, for, and yet when they join parts of a
compound sentence. (Sam wrote a letter, but I forgot to mail it.)
Rule 4: Use commas to separate items in dates and addresses.
(On Friday, January 27, my dad will be celebrating his birthday in Merced, California.)
Rule 5: Use a comma after the salutation of a friendly letter and after the closing of any letter. (Dear
Grandma, ~ or ~ Yours truly,)
Rule 6: Use commas after well, yes, no, and why when they come at the beginning of a sentence. (Yes, I
would like to go.)
Rule 7: Use commas to set off words of a direct address. (Turn your homework in, Susan.)
Apostrophe Rules (A’s)
Rule 1: Use an apostrophe when letters have been omitted in a contraction. (Isn’t, don’t)
Rule 2: Use an apostrophe to form the plurals of letters. (A’s, B’s, and C’s)
Rule 3: Use an apostrophe in a possessive noun to show possession or ownership. (my friend’s dog, the
teachers’ lounge)
Colon/Semicolon/ Hyphen Rules (CSH’s)
Rule 1: Use a colon between the hour and the minute. (3:45pm)
Rule 2: Use a colon after the salutation of a business letter. (Dear Sir:)
Rule 3: Use a colon between the chapter and verse. (John 3:16)
Semicolon Rule: Use a semicolon to separate the parts of a compound sentence if they are not joined by:
and, but, or, nor, for or yet. (Wait on the Lord; be of good courage.)
Hyphen Rule: Use a hyphen to divide a word at the end of a line into syllables.
(Avoid doing this whenever possible.)
Underlining Rules (UR’s)
Rule 1: Underline titles of books, newspapers, and magazines.
(I am reading the current Newsweek.)
Rule 2: Underline the names of ships, planes and trains. (I once took a tour of the USS Newport News.)
Rule 3: Underline the names of plays, films, sculptures, paintings, and other works of art. (Someday, I
would love to see the Mona Lisa.)
Quotation Marks (Q’s)
Rule 1- Use quotation marks before and after the titles of: short stories, poems, songs, chapters, articles,
and other parts of books, magazines, and newspapers. (“More than Words” is one of my favorite songs.)
Rule 2- Use quotation marks around the exact words of a speaker.
(My mother yelled, “Come inside this minute!”)
Rule 3-Place punctuation inside the quotation marks. (“Where are you going?” I asked.)
Rule 4- Use quotation marks to denote slang or to highlight words or phrases that are identified in the
sentence. (The word “cool” is overused by many.)
Transitional Words:
afterwards
doubtless
hence
moreover
perhaps
as a result
in any case
in addition
again
eventually
however
namely
possibly
at last
in fact
that is
anyhow
evidently
indeed
nevertheless
still
at the same time
in short
on the other hand
besides
consequently
finally
furthermore
likewise
meanwhile
next
otherwise
therefore
thus
for example
for instance
on the contrary
Writing Checklist
___Is your heading complete?
___Is your title capitalized properly?
___Is there a capital letter after each period?
___Did you correct all spelling errors?
___Is each paragraph indented?
___Are there at least five paragraphs?
___Is there an opening paragraph?
___Is there a clear thesis statement in your opening paragraph?
___Are there at least three body paragraphs?
___Does each paragraph begin with a topic sentence?
___Is there a closing paragraph?
___Did you restate your thesis in your closing paragraph?
___Did you end your paper with a final statement to complete the overall thought of the thesis?
___Are there any sentences that are only three words in length?
___Are there any sentences that are longer than fifteen words?
___Are there at least three sentences in each paragraph?
___Did you repeat any descriptive words in any paragraph or sentence?
___Did you use a thesaurus for your adjectives?
___Did any two sentences begin the same way?
___ Did you use at least one extender in each paragraph?
___Is your final draft in cursive or typed?
___Did you apply all of the comma rules?
___Did you apply all the capitalization rules?
___Did you apply all of the apostrophe rules?
___Did you apply all the underlining rules?
___Did you apply all of the quotation mark rules?
___Did you apply all colon/semicolon/hyphen rules?
___Did you read your paper aloud or have someone read it aloud to you?
___ Does your paper make sense?
___ Does your paper stay on topic?
Organizational structure- Goal Paper
1. The paper should be preferably five or more paragraphs, with a clear opening and closing
paragraph
2. The opening paragraph must begin with at least three sentences which create interest or intrigue
for the reader.
3. The last sentences of the opening paragraph must clearly introduce the topic of the essay (thesis)
but not give any information about the topic.
4. Body paragraphs must be of similar length and develop different aspects of the thesis. They must
give at least one or two supporting examples.
5. The closing paragraph must link or connect to the title or the way in which interest was created in
the opening paragraph. The thesis must be restated in different words and there must be a final
statement with causes the reader to feel the paper is complete.
6. A clever or thought-provoking title should be included.
Internal Structure:
1. Sentences within each paragraph must switch between simple, compound, and complex sentences.
2. No two sentences may begin the same way within one paragraph. Transition words should be used
in each paragraph.
3. No two paragraphs may begin with the same word or phrase
4. The word “and” must not appear more than once in any sentence.
5. No sentence should begin with the word “and”.
6. Verb tense should be consistent.
7. Highly descriptive words should not be repeated within a paragraph.
8. Vocabulary should stretch for the perfect word, but not over-stretch.
9. Spelling, punctuation, usage, and capitalization should be near perfect with no more than three to
five errors total.
10. Interest should be creative and unique.
11. The entire paper must be unified around the theme of the thesis.
12. No slang shall be used with the exception of dialogue.
13. The essay shall never be referred to.
Creating Interest
1. The Personal anecdote: goal is to put writer into the writing and allow reader to be part of the
experience…do not have to be true. (Tell part of the story in the beginning, rest in the ending;
tell all in the opening-reflect in the ending)
2. Three questions: Ask three questions in the opening- answer in the ending. Each sentence must
begin with different word or phrase. (Is it true…? Could it be…? Is it possible…?Did you see…?
Have you ever…?)
3. A quote: Intro- expand on meaning of quote in your own words…connect quote to the topic. In
the closing refer to the quote in some way.
4. An unusual/Interesting fact: Begin with fact then link into thesis. In the conclusion, refer to
the fact or provide another, related fact.
5. A biographical recollection: Creates interest by absorbing reader into topic. Similar to an
anecdote…written about anyone. Refer to recollection in conclusion.
6. In the middle of a story: (Trickiest) Similar to anecdote/biography but story or event is already
in progress…often begins with transitional words such as ‘while’ or ‘since’. Complete story in
conclusion or return to beginning and tell the first part, explain what was learned.