Sentences are hard. I teach courses at a university and writing sentences (especially punctuating them correctly) are something that many of my students still struggle with. Part of the problem is that there are many types of sentences and a number of different types of punctuation that can be used. However, there are specific rules about sentence structure that students should be taught and frequently practiced in order to master sentences.
Another problem is that because there are just small differences between a sentence that is correct or incorrect, and one worksheet is not going to be enough for students to understand that difference. That’s not to say that a worksheet is not helpful for practice, but it’s not enough by itself. To really help understand the differences, students need to be explicitly taught about sentences and sentence structure and then take that knowledge and go deeper with it. Here are some examples:
TEACH SENTENCE STRUCTURE
Start with simply teaching the concepts. What is a run-on sentence? What is a compound sentence? What features do they have, etc.
Anchor charts are a great way to do this. Have students help you fill out the anchor chart with examples.
DISCUSSING/GOING DEEPER WITH THE RULES
What really helps take student understanding to the next level is having them explain HOW and WHY the sentence is how it is. Have students create a poster with rules. Have them write and perform a song on the types of sentences. Have them explain why or why not?
For example, when studying run-on sentences and sentence fragments, rather than just having students label them, have them explain why a sentence is a run-on or a fragment. Going deeper will help students be able to remember the information.
PRACTICE WITH GROUP GAMES
To make practice fun, try doing group activities or games. Use movement. Have students become pieces in a sentence themselves and then move around do different locations to form different types of sentences. Make a sentence board game (better yet – have students create a sentence board game).
COMBINING IDENTIFYING WITH USING/INDEPENDENT WORK
Finally, sometimes students just need practice. However, with sentences, it is important to practice both identifying sentences and creating them. Have students identify types of sentences and also write some of their own.
SENTENCE RESOURCE
Get a complete sentence unit with all of these ideas and more by clicking on the image below.
