Sentence Structure Must-Knows to Begin the School Year!

When I think about it, I’ve never known for SURE that every student has the basics under their belt when it comes to sentence structure and punctuation.  This means that when I give feedback for things like incomplete or run-on sentences, many students haven’t the foggiest about what I mean, so I have to explain the ‘rules’ on an individual basis.

From now on I’m going to ensure that every student gets their ‘Sentence Licence’ (I really need to think of a catchier name for that - a right-of-passage?!) by planning for sentence structure must-knows to begin the school year! That way:

• I'll know we’re all on a level playing field with that key understanding.

• I can build on from there.  (See the end of this post for more on that.)

• Fingers crossed, those common writing issues just ‘aren’t’.  (Pah-lease!)

So, what will I do?  I’ve broken what students need to know into ten mini lessons.  You can follow what I’ve done here, or tweak things to suit yourself and your students. 

What I know for SURE is that by the end of this, students will have a hard copy of the notes they’re given so that they can refer to them often AND so that I can direct them to those notes when a refresh is needed!

Here are my 10 mini lessons (steps) … which I’ll probably tweak as time goes on:

Step 1: The complete sentence

Know that a perfect sentence – a grammatically correct sentence – has a verb and a subject.  I’m going to try to get in the habit of saying ‘verb and subject’ rather than ‘subject and verb’ because later, I know I’ll ask students to find the verb first, then find the person, place or object (the subject) that’s doing that action.  So, it makes sense to find the verb first!

Step 2: What a verb is (don't laugh, I'm serious!)

Teach students what a verb is.  Seniors will scoff, but I guarantee you, there’ll be a few that have forgotten!  Remember to teach them that ‘to be’ is a verb.  Later you’ll be asking students to find the verb in Tina is hungry.  They won’t identify ‘is’ if they’re not aware of the verb ‘to be’.  This is common for many people whose first language is English.  We just don’t notice it!  The other trickster is the verb ‘to have’.

Extension idea if you're dead keen:  teach auxiliary verbs (these help show tense).

 Step 3: What the subject of a sentence is

Teach students that the subject is the person, place or thing doing the action (the verb).

Extension idea if you're dead keen:  teach what the object of a sentence is.

Step 4:

Full stops mean the reader can stop and take a breath.  No full stops = no breathing. Ergo, your reader suffocates.  Don't murder your reader.

Step 5: Simple = Complete = Clause

Write a simple sentence on the board.  Show them it’s complete because it has one verb and one subject.  Tell students that this is also a clause. 

Extension idea if you're keen:  teach students that a clause is a complete sentence, but a phrase is just a group of words.

Step 6: The 'comma sandwich' (aka the 'jam sentence')

Introduce commas with a 'comma sandwich'.  I’m seriously thinking of renaming this the ‘jam sentence’.  (See the graphic below to see what I mean!)  It’s important that students:

• Read these sentences aloud to hear the pauses.

• Can remove the ‘jam’ to see how taking that part out still leaves you with a complete sentence.  So, construct a jam sentence for them, but then deconstruct it.

Step 7: Beginning with a preposition

Continue playing with commas to show how they are used when you begin your sentence with a preposition (telling you the position of something).  Eg:  Underneath, the worm stirred.  Again, insist that students read sentences aloud to hear that pause. That's the most important thing here - really appreciating, embracing, the pause!

Note, you’ll end up with prepositional phrases, actually.  Eg:  Before midnight, Ella danced with passion.  So, now’s your chance to slot in that word ‘phrase’ to your lessons (a group of words that don’t make sense on their own).

Grammar geeks will spot potential difficulties in working out whether something is a prepositional phrase or an adverbial phrase.  I say, at this point, don’t even go there!  Or save it for your extension work if you’re keen!

Step 8: Beginning with an adverb

As for step 7, however, this time begin sentences with an adverb.  To keep it simple, I highly recommend you stick with the basic adverbs of manner that end in ‘ly’!   Eg:  Slowly, the cat stretched.

The grammar geeks out there will know why I recommend sticking with the ly.  If you get into adverbs of time and place (and then adverbial phrases) you run the risk of getting into a pickle telling the difference between a prepositional phrase and an adverbial phrase (as I alluded to above). 

Step 9: Joining simple sentences - the compound sentence

Return to your simple sentences.  Now it’s time to join them.  Students learn here:

• What a compound sentence is.

• What coordinating conjunctions are (FANBOYS. for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)

You’ll be surprised at the trouble students have with this, especially in understanding the true meaning of each of those FANBOYS!

Step 10:

This old chestnut:  actively teach students how to proofread.  The only way to proofread is:

• Aloud

• Slowly (students always whizz through, mumbling in a monotone….)

• With expression.

When we teachers proofread, we don’t always need to read aloud because we hear the text aloud in our head, and we’re hearing it read slowly and with expression.  Soooo many students do not hear this, so they must first do it ‘for real’.  Yes, even the seniors (possibly especially the seniors)!

Make proofreading a habit, but pulling students up on silly mistakes (broken record…squeaky wheel…sweat the small stuff…nagging is caring….) and giving students time to proofread at the end of activities.  Only then will they see this is important and that making a good impression with their writing is a thing!

And so...the 'licence'

At the end of this, perhaps you could run a wee test that students must pass to get their ‘licence’ or earn their ‘right-of-passage’.  A bit of fun…but you know…necessary, eh?!

How do these 10 steps help us 'build on'?

• Carry on with commas.  The lessons above focus on getting students to understand that pause.  Now try using them for listing and for dialogue.

• You’re set for other sentence structures.  Eg: 

• Minor sentences – now that students what a complete sentence is, they can practice incomplete ones for effect.  It’s that old adage, you have to know the rules to break the rules.

• Move into complex sentences.

• Throw out the coordinating conjuctions and replace them with semi-colons.  Students will see, then, that the rule with semi-colons is that there is a complete sentence either side.

All the prep is done for you in our 'Sentence Structure - Must-knows for all levels' resource.

It's editable and includes a student booklet PLUS a teacher's slideshow to help guide your students through.