This topic is one of those topics that so many adults have difficulty grasping. While there is not a specific TEKS that describes this lesson in fourth grade, it is one that I have seen come up often in student writing and in STAAR material.
Students are required to know when to capitalize names, but there is nowhere that I’ve seen at any grade level that specifically addresses this issue (or earth/sun for that matter). I am sure the reasoning behind this is that students will learn to use critical thinking skills to analyze proper nouns and figure out what to do with them. The problem with that, in my opinion, is there are some proper noun instances that everyone struggles with, which is why I teach them specifically.
Writing Objective: We known when to capitalize family nicknames.
Proof: We can prove we met our objective by making a 70 or higher on a practice.
Vocabulary:
common and proper nouns
family nicknames
Materials:
Quizziz Practice–either printed out or online
Lesson—
Students watch the lesson video on their own and tell me a summary of the rule. After that, they can do the Quizizz practice on their own. My kids love using Quizizz. I usually let them do the practice a few times on their own until everyone finishes. Then, we play team games if we have time. If you haven’t tried a Quizziz team game with your class, it is similar to Kahoot but without the speed requirement. Again, I don’t spend a lot of time making students master this today because I know it will be reinforced time and again with the bell work.
Teaching Without Twitching 