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CAPITAL LETTERS AND FULL STOPS

        Truth to Teach (Source)

              God puts importance on names and we reflect this in our use of a capital letter to signal the start of a
               name in written language.

              A capital letter is also a convenient way of signalling the start of a new sentence.

        Way to Work (Means)

                1.  Ask for a volunteer to write the word ‘God’ on the board.  (Make no comment if the child omits a
                 capital letter.) This word makes us think about the One who created this world, who loves us and who
                 rules over all.

                 Moses had an interesting experience one day in which God appeared to him in flames of fire from the
                 middle of a bush.  (Show relevant picture.)  God was calling Moses to a special work he wanted him to
                 do – what was this?  During this encounter Moses asked God what name God would like him to use
                 when speaking about him to Pharaoh King of Egypt.  God’s answer was ‘I am who I am.’  Ask for
                 another volunteer to write this on the board.

                 Talk about this being an unusual name, but it was an important name.  It’s the name God chose to tell
                 us about himself. (That God has always been, is now and always shall be.)  There’s nobody else with a
                 name like this, and there’s nobody else like God!

            2.    Explain that when we say ‘God’ or ‘I am who I am’ we can show our respect for him in our tone of
                 voice.  When we write God’s name, we show respect for him by using a capital letter at the beginning.

            3.    Emphasise that names are important to God.  They make us think of someone made in God’s image.
                 In written language we begin every person’s name with a capital letter.  (Illustrate with examples
                 from around the classroom, showing first names and surnames.)  Whenever you write the word ‘I’,
                 referring to yourself, it has a capital letter too!

            4.    Talk about the need for capital letters for our pets. Share examples.

            5.    Briefly explain that many places were named after people: Scotland – the land of the Scots;
                 Kazakhstan – the land of the Kazakhs.  It was logical to begin the names of places with a capital
                 letter too. It helps readers to quickly distinguish names from ordinary words, making things easier to
                 understand.  We use capital letters for people, pets and places.

            6.   Prepare in a large font on separate pieces of paper:

                                                     come and praise god

                 Have four children each hold a word in this sentence.  Ask which word needs a capital letter at the
                 beginning of it.  Replace with ‘God’.  Place a baseball cap on the head of the child holding the word
                 ‘God’, lining up the capital ‘G’ under the child’s head! (eg ‘cap’ and ‘capital letter’!  This letter stands
                 out from all the other letters around it and reminds us that this word is a name.)




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