Grade: Elementary

#4155. Common Nouns and Proper Nouns

Reading/Writing, level: Elementary
Posted Sat Apr 5 09:55:45 PDT 2008 by Meghan Webb (Meghan Webb).

Common Nouns and Proper Nouns

What are nouns?
Person, Place, Thing, Idea
(Brainstorm and give me nouns for each)

What are common nouns?
Common noun is a general name for a person, place, thing, or idea. Common nouns are usually not capitalized unless they begin a sentence or are part of a title.
Example: boy, team, bike, shoe, book, etc
(Brainstorm and give me some common nouns for each)

What are proper nouns?
Proper noun is the name of a particular person, place, thing, or idea. A proper noun is always capitalized.
Example: Miss Webb, United States of America, West Virginia, Bobby, George Washington, etc.


Common and Proper Nouns Sentence Strips
Have the students randomly draw the sentence strips and have them read them and tell you if they are common or proper nouns.

Activity: Battle of the Brains
How many common nouns can you think of on a specific topic?
1. Nouns: Items in a Jewelry Store
2. Nouns: Grocery Store
3. Nouns: Fruits
Activity: Battle of the Brains
How many proper nouns can you think of on a specific topic?
1. Nouns: Famous People
2. States
3. Fast Food Restaurants

Group Activity: Magazine Picture and Word Search
Create a poster board, one half will be common nouns and one half will be proper nouns. Have the students work in teams to cut out both words and pictures that are classified as common nouns and proper nouns.

Name_______________________________________________Date________________

Common and Proper Nouns
Nouns are words that stand for a person, place, thing, or idea. They can be singular (one) or plural (more than one).
Common nouns do not need to begin with a capital letter.
A proper noun is a name given to a specific person, place, or thing. Proper nouns begin with capital letters.
Each sentence below contains two or more nouns. They are either all common nouns or all proper nouns. Underline the nouns and then indicate whether they are common or proper. The answers for the first two sentences are done for you.
1. Does Jimmy really want to move to California? proper
2. An impolite fish asked my brother for a worm. common
3. Amy will travel to Norway and Sweden. ______________
4. Which is larger, Microsoft or Intel? _____________
5. Cats are very valuable helpers on a farm. ____________
6. My grandfather wasn't allowed in that diner because of his strange habits. _____________
7. Cassy, Samantha, and David are playing outside. ___________
8. Happiness is a feeling that is hard to describe. ____________
9. Her smile became a frown as she noticed the tiny insects crawling out of her sandwich. _________________
10. The Giants will not play the Cubs in Orlando. ______________