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Grade 1Sentence Beginnings and the Pronoun IRecognition

Sentence Beginnings and the Pronoun I — Grade 1

Grade 1 worksheet for identifying and sorting capital letters at sentence beginnings and the pronoun I, using recognition-level marking and sorting tasks.

This worksheet gives Grade 1 students focused practice with two capitalization rules that appear in almost every sentence they will ever write: starting each sentence with a capital letter, and always writing the pronoun I as a capital. Getting these habits right in first grade means students do not need to unlearn errors later. Section A builds recognition by having students circle letters that should be capitals inside printed sentences, so they learn to scan text carefully. Section B moves to sorting, asking students to decide which of the two rules a short phrase breaks. Read the rule box aloud together before students begin, and encourage them to say the rules in their own words. The sheet works equally well as a whole-class introduction, a small-group activity, or a take-home review.

Sentence Beginnings and the Pronoun I — Grade 1

Read each sentence or phrase carefully. Follow the directions in each part to show which letters should be capitals.

Remember

  • Always start a sentence with a capital letter. Example: my dog ran — My dog ran.
  • The word I is always a capital letter, no matter where it appears in the sentence.
  • Before you finish, check: does the sentence start with a capital? Is every I a capital?

Part A — Find the capital letters

Circle every letter in each sentence that should be a capital letter.

  1. 1.

    my rabbit likes to hop.

  2. 2.

    she and i walk to school.

  3. 3.

    the bird has a red wing.

  4. 4.

    i have a big red ball.

  5. 5.

    Nia said i could help her.

Part B — Sort the phrases

Read each phrase and write the group name that matches the rule it breaks.

Groups: First word needs a capital | The pronoun I needs a capital

  1. 6.

    my dog runs in the yard

  2. 7.

    she and i like the snow

  3. 8.

    the cat sat on the rug

  4. 9.

    Ben and i ate our lunch

  5. 10.

    we kick the big red ball

Answer key

Part A — Find the capital letters

  1. 1.my
  2. 2.she, i
  3. 3.the
  4. 4.i
  5. 5.i

Part B — Sort the phrases

  1. 6.First word needs a capital
  2. 7.The pronoun I needs a capital
  3. 8.First word needs a capital
  4. 9.The pronoun I needs a capital
  5. 10.First word needs a capital

What this worksheet teaches

  • Identify the first word of a sentence as the word that must begin with a capital letter.
  • Recognize the pronoun I wherever it appears in a sentence and know it is always a capital.
  • Sort short phrases by the capitalization rule they break: sentence start or the pronoun I.

What is on the page

Part B — Sort the phrases sorts each item into “First word needs a capital” and “The pronoun I needs a capital”; “my dog runs in the yard” goes under “First word needs a capital”.

The language it drills

“the bird has a red wing.” has one answer in the key: “the”.

Notes for the grown-up

  • Students at this level often focus on spelling and forget the opening capital — watch for sentences that begin with a neat but lowercase letter.
  • If a student misses a lowercase i mid-sentence, point to it and ask them to read the sentence aloud to hear the pronoun.
  • A student is ready to move on when they spot both kinds of error quickly and can explain which rule each letter breaks.

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All grade 1 worksheets →All capitalization rules worksheets →

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