Focus On: Spelling, Capitalization, and
Punctuation
1.
Write two rules for spelling words correctly.
(a) ______________________________________________________________________________________
(b) ______________________________________________________________________________________
2.
Bold the misspelled words in these sentences.
(a) The windoe was smashd by a basebal travelling at a hig speed.
(b) My canarey is a very intelligent bird, and she can sing many songs, I thingk.
(c) A wanderng minstrel played his guiter for the townspeeple everwere he went.
3.
When are capital letters usually needed? Give at least three situations where they are used.
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4.
Bold the letters that should be capitalized.
(a) i found the way to hingle’s treasure palace by following sendle street to prathmore avenue.
(b) We are not going to listen to dr. watson tell us any more about sherlock holmes.
(c) the program who wants to buy some pizza? was not a very big success in regina or calgary.
5.
6.
Identify these punctuation marks.
! ________________________
________________________
“ ” _________________________
;
’ ________________________
________________________
, _________________________
.
: ________________________
________________________
– _________________________
-
Add commas where you think they are needed in these sentences.
(a) We need to bring sandwiches milk cake soda water and a large picnic basket.
(b) The bright beautiful sun shone on towns fields and the sea.
Spelling Rules
1.
Tips
Words ending in e: Drop the e when adding an ending or suffix beginning with a vowel. Keep the e if
the suffix starts with a consonant.
tame + ing = taming
2.
Words ending in a consonant and y: Change the y to i before adding endings. Keep the y if the
ending begins with i.
beauty + ful = beautiful
3.
same + ness = sameness
fly + ing = flying
Words ending in a vowel and y: Leave the y when adding endings.
play + ing = playing
4.
One-syllable words: If the word ends in a single vowel with a single consonant, double the consonant
when you add an ending beginning with a vowel.
stop + ing = stopping
5.
slam + ed = slammed
Multi-syllable words: If the word ends with a single vowel and consonant, with the accent (stress) on
the last syllable, double the consonant when you add an ending that begins with a vowel.
begin + ing = beginning
6.
With i and e: Use i before e except after c, or when it sounds like a as in sleigh.
receive
believe
weigh
These rules should help you in your spelling. However, here are some spelling and
proofreading tips to think about as you spell words in your everyday writing.
• Read as much and as often as you can. This will show you the correct spellings of words used in
context.
• Use a dictionary for spell checking.
• Use a computer spell checker, but remember that it will often give you many words to choose from.
You need to have a good idea how to spell the word or you might choose one that doesn’t fit your
context.
• Read your work forwards and backwards, word for word, looking for words that don’t look right.
• Use memory tricks to help you spell words: This is so B-E-A-U-tiful!
• Break larger words into their syllable parts. A dictionary will help you with this.
• Look for smaller words in larger ones: TO - mor - ROW
• Check the phonetic spellings of words to help you pronounce them correctly.
Use the ideas on this page as a self-check whenever you spell words.
Spelling Rules
Usage
Use the rules and tips from the page above to help you with the activities on this page.
1.
Bold the words that are spelled incorrectly. Write the correct spellings below.
reciept
believe
wiegh
sleigh
acheive
chief
greif beleif
eight
receive
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2.
3.
Add the endings to these words.
beauty + ful = _____________________________
stop + ing = __________________________________
shame + less = ____________________________
shame + ing = ________________________________
exist + ence = _____________________________
apart + ment = ________________________________
Bold the smaller words you see in these larger words.
reprimand
4.
5.
suburban
coordinator
superintendent
behaviour
adolescents
Break these words into syllables. Place an accent mark on the stressed syllable. Check your work in a
dictionary.
gymnasium: ______________________________
technology: __________________________________
intelligence: ______________________________
following: ___________________________________
community: ______________________________
destructive: __________________________________
channels: _________________________________
computer: ___________________________________
argument: ________________________________
immature: ___________________________________
Check this movie listing for spelling mistakes. Rewrite the copy with the corrected words.
Mason’s Ghost: This chiling tale of things that go bump in thu nigt centres around Mason, a
fourtenth centery ghost. At one time, Macon was a soldier in the Kng’s army. When he was
betrayed and killed during a batle, Mason’s ghost vowed revenge on anyone entring the
battlefield area. The movie traces the hiestory of the ghost and his final confrontation with
Kilgallen, the historian. Watch for this ecksciting movie, coming soon to a theatre near yu!
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