1st Grade ELA Quiz: Capitalize Names And Dates

What this quiz covers

This quiz focuses on Capitalize Names And Dates, giving you a quick way to practice the rules, question types, and explanations that matter most for 1st Grade ELA.

How to use this quiz

Try each quiz question before looking at the correct answer. Use the explanations to review missed ideas, then come back to similar questions until the pattern feels familiar.

Question 1

1. red
2. emma (correct answer)
3. ball

Explanation: We are learning about capital letters for names. Names always start with a big letter. Emma is a person's name, so it needs a capital E.

Question 2

1. jump
2. can
3. Jamal (correct answer)

Explanation: We check which word has a capital. Jamal is a person's name. Names start with capital letters.

Question 3

1. We clean up on saturday.
2. We Clean Up on Saturday.
3. We clean up on Saturday. (correct answer)

Explanation: We fix the capitals. Saturday is a day name. Only We and Saturday need capitals here.

Question 4

1. shares
2. crayons
3. brown (correct answer)
4. his

Explanation: Brown is part of Jamal's last name, and names of people are always capitalized, so C is correct. Shares, crayons, and his are common words that do not need capital letters. Only special words like names of people, places, and days are capitalized. Since brown is Jamal's last name, it should be written as Brown.

Question 5

1. plays
2. ball
3. emma (correct answer)
4. with

Explanation: This question tests 1st grade capitalization of names and dates (CCSS.L.1.2.a: Capitalize dates and names of people). Capital letters (big letters, uppercase) are used for specific, special words; we ALWAYS capitalize names of people - both first names (Emma, Jamal, Sofia) and last names (Smith, Brown, Rodriguez); we also ALWAYS capitalize days of the week (Monday, Tuesday, etc.) and months of the year (January, February, etc.); we do NOT capitalize common nouns - regular words for things like cat, dog, book, ball, house (unless they start a sentence). The sentence contains a name that needs a capital letter; 'emma' is a person's name, which is a proper noun - a specific name for a specific person. Choice C is correct because the word 'emma' needs to be capitalized as 'Emma' since it's a person's first name, a proper noun requiring a capital letter at the start. Choice B represents over-capitalization; students make this error because they're learning which words are 'special' (proper nouns) and which are 'regular' (common nouns), and they might capitalize common nouns like 'ball' if they think it's important, but it's a general word, not a specific name. To help students, create proper noun vs common noun sorts - 'Emma' (proper - name) vs 'girl' (common - any girl), and use highlighters to mark names that need capitals; practice with the class by asking 'Is it a SPECIFIC NAME or a GENERAL WORD? Specific name = capital!' Make an anchor chart: 'Always Capitalize: Names (Emma Smith), Days (Monday), Months (March), I, Start of sentence. Do Not Capitalize: Regular things (cat, book, ball, house)'; watch for students who forget capitals on names or capitalize everything important to them like 'my Ball'.

Question 6

1. march
2. MARCH
3. March (correct answer)

Explanation: This tests capitalizing month names. March needs one capital M. We don't use all capitals for months.

Question 7

1. carlos (correct answer)
2. likes
3. draw

Explanation: We capitalize people's names. Carlos is a person's name. Names need big letters to start.

Question 8

1. We read Books in March.
2. We read books in march.
3. We read books in March. (correct answer)

Explanation: Months need capital letters. March is a month, so it needs a big M. Regular words like 'books' don't need capitals.

Question 9

1. plays
2. Saturday (correct answer)
3. soccer

Explanation: We are finding correct capital letters. Days of the week start big. Saturday has a capital S, which is right.

Question 10

1. has
2. emma (correct answer)
3. ball

Explanation: We capitalize names of people. Emma is a person's name. Names always start with big letters.

Question 11

1. FRIDAY
2. Friday (correct answer)
3. friday

Explanation: We are learning to write days correctly. Days start with one big letter. Friday has a capital F and small letters after.

Question 12

1. MAYA RODRIGUEZ plays outside.
2. maya rodriguez plays outside.
3. Maya Rodriguez plays outside. (correct answer)

Explanation: We are checking capital letters for names. Both parts of a name need capitals. Maya Rodriguez has capital M and capital R, which is correct.

Question 13

1. Emma plays tag. (correct answer)
2. EMMA plays tag.
3. emma plays tag.

Explanation: We are learning about capital letters for names. Names always start with a big letter. Emma is a name, so it needs a capital E at the beginning.

Question 14

1. tuesday
2. Tuesday (correct answer)
3. TUESDAY

Explanation: Days of the week need capital letters. Tuesday starts with a big T. We don't use all capitals for days.

Question 15

1. sofia (correct answer)
2. share
3. crayons

Explanation: We need to find the name. Names always start with capitals. Sofia is a person's name, so it needs a big S.

Question 16

1. play
2. monday (correct answer)
3. on

Explanation: We need to find the special word. Days of the week need capital letters. Monday is a day, so it needs a big M.

Question 17

1. APRIL
2. april
3. ApRil
4. April (correct answer)

Explanation: The correct answer is April because months are proper nouns and should start with one capital letter, with the rest of the letters lowercase. APRIL is incorrect because every letter is capitalized. april is incorrect because no letter is capitalized. ApRil is incorrect because the capital letter is in the wrong place.

Question 18

1. We have music on tuesday.
2. We have music on Tuesday. (correct answer)
3. We have Music on Tuesday.

Explanation: We are learning about capital letters. Days always start with one big letter. Tuesday needs a capital T but not music.

Question 19

1. We read books in March. (correct answer)
2. We read books in march.
3. We read Books in March.

Explanation: We are checking capitals in sentences. Months always start with big letters. March has a capital M, and that's correct.

Question 20

1. ball
2. emma (correct answer)
3. red

Explanation: We are learning about capital letters. Names always start with a big letter. Emma is a person's name, so it needs a capital E.