Capitilization Checklist
Punctuation Checklist
Use:
 Capitalize the word I.
 Capitalize the first letter in a sentence.
 Capitalize a person’s name.
 Capitalize days of the week and months of
the year.
 Capitalize a title before a person’s name.
 Capitalize the names of specific places.
 Capitalize the names of holidays.
 Capitalize the name, street, city, and state
in an address.
 Capitalize the greeting and closing of a
letter.
 Capitalize the important words in a book,
movie, or TV show title.
 periods [ . ] at end of telling sentences, abbreviations, and letters
and numbers in an outline.
 question marks [ ? ] at end of asking sentences or asking words.
 exclamation marks [ ! ] at end of telling sentences or words that
display strong emotion.
 commas [ , ] to separate introductory words, words in a series, and in
dates, addresses, and quotations.
 quotation marks [ “ ] to show what someone is saying.
 apostrophes [ ‘ ] to show possession.
 hyphens [ - ] when writing number words and in compound describing
words.
 parentheses [ ( ) ] around information that does not fit into the flow
of the sentence but that you want to include.
 colons [ : ] before writing a list.
 semicolons [ ; ] to separate a list with clauses containing commas.
Words That Express Emotion
AFRAID
HOT
SAD
NERVOUS
HAPPY
COLD
SHY
SHOCKED
TIRED
ANGRY
EMBARRASSED
EXCITED
Hands shaking
Knees like rubber
Covering mouth with hand
Breathing fast
Biting nails
Whimpering
Hands shaking
Biting bottom lip
Butterflies in stomach
Stuttering
Swallowing hard
Blushing
Looking down
Speaking softly
Arms crossed
Standing back from the group
Red in the face
Hands on hips
Glaring
Hands in fists
Jaw clenched
Veins popping
Red in the face
Sweat on face, back
Fanning self with hand
Moving Slowly
Yawning
Smiling face
Eyes wide open
Clasping hands together
Jumping up and down
Laughing
Mouth wide open
Eyes popping open
Hands covering mouth
Gasping
Stepping back
Blushing
Hanging head
Holding back tears
Rolling eyes
Stomach flips
Hiding face
Tears in eyes
Trembling lips
Hanging head
Shoulders drooped
Frown
Dragging feet
Crying
Shivering
Rubbing hands together
Hugging self
Blowing on hands
See vapors of breath
Droopy eyes
Yawning
Stretching
Slouching
Rubbing eyes
Mouth wide open
Heart pounding
Eyes wide open
Hands clasped
Jumping
Clapping
Revise your Writing
Edit Your Writing
When writers revise their writing, they make sure
that their ideas make sense and are in order and make
When writers edit their writing, they find and fix any
it more interesting. Get a highlighter and a
green
pen. Use this list to revise your writing and make it
more interesting.
1. Circle the title of your story with your green pen.
2. Use your green pen and underline your lead or topic
sentence.
3. Underline your conclusion sentence with your green
pen.
4. Use the thesaurus to replace at least three
“overused” words. Write them with your green pen.
5. Highlight all transition words. You should have at
least one for each paragraph in your composition. If
you do not, add them with your green pen.
mistakes. Get a highlighter and a
list to check and fix your work.
red pen. Use this
1. Put your finger on each word and use the red pen to
circle the words that don’t look right. Use a
dictionary to correct words at the end.
2. Highlight the capital letter at the beginning of
every sentence. If there is no capital letter, write one
in with your red pen.
3. Circle the period, question mark, or exclamation
point at the end of every sentence. If there is no
punctuation, put it in with your red pen.
4. Highlight the first letter of these words:
the title of your story
proper names of people, places or things
the word I
days of the week
months of the year
If the capital letter is missing, put it in with your red
pen.
5. Put a check mark where you indented your
paragraphs.
BETTER BEGINNINGS
Try starting your writing with…
A simile ~ “She was as smart as…”
A metaphor ~ “He was a clever monkey…”
Alliteration ~ “A stunning student…”
An idiom ~ “It was a snap to…”
A question ~ “Have you ever wondered…”
A belief ~ “I have always felt sure that…”
A single word ~ “Brains. That’s all I..”
A good fact ~ “The encyclopedia says…”
A sound ~ “Ka-blam!…”
A quote ~ “Martin Luther King said that…”
TRANSITIONS
Try these to organize your writing!
* First Paragraph ~
First, In the beginning, To start
* Middle Paragraphs ~
Also, Additionally, Furthermore, Then
* Last Paragraph ~
Summing it up, In conclusion, Ultimately
Words to Perk Up Your Writing!
BAD
inferior, awful, atrocious,
hideous, lousy, dreadful,
terrible
SAID
whispered, asked, cried,
shouted, called, exclaimed,
questioned, declared,
hissed, gabbed, hollered,
lectured, gossiped, replied,
stated, responded,
remarked
GOOD/GREAT
delightful, super, terrific,
wonderful, awesome,
amazing, great, fabulous,
astonishing, excellent,
glorious, magnificent,
superb, wonderful, cool,
groovy, awesome, slick,
wild, fantastic
LIKE
prefer, enjoy, fancy,
admire, appreciate
LOVE
Care for, favor, cherish,
adore, idolize
BIG/LARGE
huge, gigantic, tremendous,
enormous, colossal,
extensive, immense,
spacious, vast, massive
FUN
enjoyable, entertaining,
exciting, fantastic,
festive, incredible, joyous,
splendid
LITTLE/SMALL
teeny, tiny, miniature,
compact, diminutive,
minute, petite, puny
LAUGH
cackle, chuckle, giggle,
snicker, chortle
PRETTY
appealing, attractive,
beautiful, enchanting, fair,
gorgeous, lovely, stunning,
adorable, beautiful,
elegant, marvelous,
fantastic, glamorous
HAPPY
pleased, glad, joyful,
content, delighted,
overwhelmed, giddy,
cheerful, jovial
NICE
kind, thoughtful,
considerate, courteous,
agreeable, cordial,
pleasant, warm, helpful,
friendly, charming,
delightful
GOT
accomplished, acquired,
earned, gained, gathered,
obtained, received,
retrieved
MAD
angry, annoyed, cross,
furious, fierce, stormy,
insane, enraged, irate,
livid, fuming,
WALK
strut, hobble, march, plod,
stroll
VERY
awfully, dreadfully,
exceptionally,
exceptionally,
extraordinarily,
fantastically, incredibly,
marvelously, wonderfully,
truly, especially
SAD
low, blue, down, gloomy,
upset, depressed, unhappy,
sorrowful, glum, pitiful,
miserable, dispirited,
discouraged, mournful
THINK
reflect, consider, ponder,
contemplate, study,
meditate, remember, recall
SAW
noticed, spotted, eyed,
observed, spied, glimpsed
RUN
rush, bolt, jog, dash,
scurry
Presentation ~
* Make it look good!
TRAITS FOR GOOD WRITING
Ideas ~
* Think up an interesting purpose, details, and
message.
Organization ~
* Give your ideas a good beginning middle, and end,
going from one to the other easily.
Voice ~
* Write so your words sound like you, your ideas
and feelings, and let readers really understand you.
Word Choice ~
* Search for interesting words (nouns, verbs,
adjectives, and adverbs) that make pictures in
readers’ minds.
Sentence Fluency ~
* Shape sentences differently, some short and
some long.
Conventions ~
* Work on capitals, commas, and periods.
Spell your best.
CONJUNCTIONS
These hold sentences together like glue!
and, or, but, for
because, when, if, then
THINK TWICE BEFORE . . .
starting with these: and, but, because.
SPELLING WORDS
A ~ about, actually, again, a lot, almost, always, another, anyone
B ~ basically, beautiful, because, before, believe, buy, by
C ~ can’t, character, coming, communicate, could, country
D ~ described, determined, didn’t, doctor, doesn’t, don’t
E ~ enough, especially, everybody, everything, except, exactly
F ~ favorite, February, first, foolish, forty, furious, friend
G ~ getting, giant, girl, government, guaranteed, guess,
H ~ half, having, hear, heard, hole, honor, horror, hour
I ~ I’m, impossible, instead, into, it’s, its
L ~ language, laugh, let’s, literature
M ~ making, meant, minute, myself
N ~ natural, necessary, new, no, none
O ~ obey, off, offer, often, once, one (#1), only, our, own, owner
P ~ packet, people, piece, private, probably, prove, purpose
R ~ raise, read, ready, really, rely, require, resist, right
S ~ said, separate, since, school, something, sometimes, success
T ~ terrible, that’s, their (own), then, there, they, they’re (they are), thought, threw, through, to, tonight, too,
trouble, truly, Tuesday, two
U ~ unaware, unfortunate, until, unusual, used, usually
V ~ vacuum, vegetable, very, violence, vocabulary, volunteer
W ~ wear (clothes), weather, Wednesday, we’re, went, were, what, when, where, whether, who, whole, with, won,
won’t, wouldn’t, write
Y ~ yawn, yellow, yesterday, young, your, you’re, yummy, youth