4.4 Capitalization and Spelling

How Capitalization and Spelling Are Tested

These items are concrete: you select the sentence with correct capitalization, or the correctly spelled word, or the right homophone for a context. Because the rules are finite, this is a reliable place to bank points if you study the patterns and the small set of words ETS recycles.

Capitalization Rules

Capitalize a word when it begins a sentence or names something specific.

For titles of works, capitalize the first word, the last word, and every major word, but leave short articles, conjunctions, and prepositions lowercase in the middle: The Catcher in the Rye, not The Catcher In The Rye.

Core Spelling Rules

Four patterns explain most spelling items:

1. i before e, except after c (or when sounded like ay): believe, piece, receive, neighbor; exceptions include weird, science, their.
2. Silent-e drop: drop the final e before a suffix that starts with a vowel (hope → hoping), but keep it before a consonant suffix (hope → hopeful).
3. Doubling the final consonant: double it when the word ends in consonant-vowel-consonant and the stress is on the last syllable, before a vowel suffix (run → running, begin → beginning, but open → opening because the stress is on the first syllable).
4. Changing y to i: when y follows a consonant, change it to i before most suffixes (happy → happiness, carry → carried), except keep the y before -ing (carrying).

Commonly Misspelled Words

Commonly Confused Words and Homophones

Homophones sound identical but differ in meaning and spelling. The exam tests meaning, so know the job each word does.

A durable memory aid: affect = Action (verb) and effect = End result (noun); both start with the same letter as their job.

Supporting Spelling Instruction

Application items reward research-based, low-pressure practice. The best paraeducator moves:

• Maintain a word wall of high-frequency and tricky words students can reference while writing.
• Run word sorts, grouping words by pattern (silent-e, double consonant) so students discover the rule.
• Teach mnemonics for stubborn words (separate has "a rat" in it; the principal is your pal).
• Use reading aloud and sentence context so students choose the right homophone by meaning.
• Encourage students to circle words they are unsure of during drafting and check them during editing, rather than stopping to fix every word mid-draft.

Worked Example: A student writes, "Their going to bring they're lunches over they're." On the content item you correct three homophones by meaning: Their should be They're (they are), the second they're is possessive (their lunches), and the last they're names a place (there). The corrected sentence reads, "They're going to bring their lunches over there." On the paired application item, the best support is not to circle all three and rewrite them. It is to ask the student what each word means in the sentence — "Does this one mean they are, belonging to them, or a place?" — so the student maps meaning to spelling and can self-correct next time.