Grade 4 · Week 15capitalization punctuation
Fixing the Lost Dog Flyers
Students read a short story about Maya fixing her family's lost-dog flyers, then answer five questions on capitalization and end punctuation with teacher and homeschool guidance included.
On screen - your kid, alone
- 1Day 1 - Meet the story
- 2Day 2 - Word work
- 3Day 3 - What it means
- 4Day 4 - Fix & re-read
- 5Day 5 - Show what you know
Offline - with you
Print the pages for offline work together; the answer key is for you.
Start by reading the story about Maya and Biscuit aloud together, then tell your child, "We're going to be flyer detectives today and find every word that needs a capital letter or a fix at the end of a sentence." A strong answer will explain *why* a word needs a capital — for example, "Maple Street is a street name, so both words start with capitals" — or why a sentence needs a question mark instead of a period because it asks something. When your child rewrites the flyer line, look for three things: a capital B in Biscuit, capitals on any other proper nouns, and a question mark or exclamation point that matches the sentence's purpose. If your child struggles, try the "point and name" trick: have them point to each capital letter and say what kind of name it is (person, day, street, or park); if nothing fits one of those categories, the capital probably does not belong. For end punctuation, ask your child to read the sentence out loud — if their voice goes up, it is likely a question; if it sounds excited or urgent, an exclamation point fits; otherwise, a period is the right choice.
Fixing the Lost Dog Flyers
On Saturday morning, Maya woke up to bad news. Her little brown dog, Biscuit, had pushed open the gate and run off. Maya's heart sank. Biscuit was the friendliest dog on Maple Street, and he had never been gone this long before. Maya's mom came up with a plan. They would make flyers and hang them all over the neighborhood. Maya grabbed markers and paper. Her dad started typing on the computer. In less than an hour, they had a stack of bright yellow flyers ready to tape to poles and fences. Maya rushed outside to start hanging them. The first flyer went up on the tree near her house. The second one went up by the bus stop. Then Mrs. Alvarez from next door walked over to look. She smiled kindly, but she pointed at the paper. "Sweetheart, your flyer says 'have you seen biscuit' with no question mark," she said. "And biscuit is his name, so it needs a big B." Maya's cheeks turned warm. She had not noticed the mistakes. She looked closer and saw more problems. The flyer said the dog was last seen on maple street. It said to call on saturday. It even said Biscuit liked to play at riverside park. None of those words had capital letters! Maya ran back to her dad with the flyer. Together, they made a list of fixes. Names of people, streets, days, and parks all needed capital letters. Sentences that asked something needed a question mark. Sentences that showed strong feelings needed an exclamation point. Her dad printed a new batch of flyers. This time the top of each one shouted, "Please Help Us Find Biscuit!" The address and description looked neat and correct. Every proper noun started with a capital letter, and every sentence ended the right way. Maya walked the whole block again with tape and fresh flyers. She felt proud of her careful work. A few hours later, the phone rang. A boy had spotted a brown dog near Riverside Park. Maya and her dad jumped in the car and drove straight there. Sure enough, Biscuit was sniffing under a bench, wagging his tail. Maya hugged him tight. The fixed flyers had worked. Good spelling and punctuation, she decided, were not just rules for school. They could help bring a lost dog home.
What this lesson checks
- Grammar usage: In the passage, Mrs. Alvarez points out that one of the flyers says 'have you seen biscuit' with no question mark. Which version follows the rules for capital letters and end punctuation?
- Grammar usage: One of the lost-dog flyers had this sentence: biscuit was last seen on maple street on saturday Rewrite this sentence so that all the capital letters are correct and the sentence ends with the right punctuation mark.
- Grammar usage: Maya and her dad want every sentence on the new flyer to use correct capital letters and end punctuation. Which sentence is written correctly?
- Grammar usage: The passage says: 'A boy had spotted a brown dog near Riverside Park.' Which sentence uses capital letters in the same correct way for names and places?
- Grammar usage: While checking the flyers, Maya finds this sentence written on one of them: 'mrs. alvarez saw biscuit run past her house on maple street' Rewrite the sentence so that all the capital letters are correct and the sentence ends with the right punctuation mark. Then, in 2-4 sentences, explain which words you fixed and why, using what the passage teaches about capital letters and end marks.