Lesson Plan
by Lydia Bolls
Lesson: Using common and proper nouns
Length: 30 minutes
Age or Grade Level Intended: 1st grade
Academic Standard(s):
L.1.1.—English/language arts- Conventions of Standard English-Use, common, proper, and
possessive nouns
Performance Objective(s):
1. Given 5 sentences, students will decide whether or not the sentences include common or
proper nouns and circle the correct one.
Assessment:
My assessment will just be a checklist. I will come around the classroom and check to see
if students wrote the correct answers on their individual wipe off boards.
Advance Preparation by Teacher:


Huge dry-erase board w/markers
Smart board
Procedure:
Introduction/Motivation:
1. Say “Ok boys and girls, today we will be working on nouns! Now I know that all of you
should know what a noun is because we have worked on nouns before. So who can tell
me what a noun is? (call on a student that raises his/her hand)
2. “Ok good! Now who can give me 3 examples of a noun?” (Call on 3 different students”)
Have students come up to the smart board and write 2 different nouns. Have students go
back to their seats.
Step-by-Step Plan:
1. Gather the students around you on the reading carpet located by the wall of the
classroom. “Now we’ve talked about nouns before and we all know that a noun is a
person, place, or thing but today we are actually going to learn about common and proper
nouns.
2. Write both common noun and proper noun on huge dry erase board. Explain to students
that a common noun is a general person, place or thing. (give 3 examples and write on
dry erase board)
3. Explain to students that a proper noun is a specific person, place or thing and it is always
capitalized. (give 3 examples and write on dry erase board)
4. Have students make a list on the dry erase board of different things that they think are
common and proper nouns. Try to get at least 5 for both common and proper.
5. Continue to give examples and talk about the difference between common and proper
nouns.
6. Have students go back to their seats. Write 5 sentences on the smart board and number
them. Have students take out their wipe off board. Explain to students that for each
sentence they have to decide whether the noun in each sentence is a common noun or
proper noun.
7. Go around the classroom and check students’ answers. On the checklist write the number
of how many correct answers the student has. If some of the students get them incorrect,
have them correct it.
Closure:
8. Once all of the students have finished, have student volunteers share what they have
written for each sentence. Have students explain why they chose common or proper as
their answer.
9. Wrap up the lesson by having students give at least 3 common nouns and at least 3 proper
nouns. Talk about the difference between the two and explain the importance of both.