How to Teach Sentence Writing

How do you teach a kindergartener or first grader to write a complete sentence? When students start reading simple words, they can start to learn about writing complete sentences. This lesson on writing complete simple sentences can start as a foundational skill in kindergarten as well as be taught at any level that requires the practice.

Teaching kids to write complete sentences can be tricky business. They usually learn pretty quickly that a sentence begins with an uppercase letter and ends with a period.  The trouble comes when we start teaching basic sentence structure, which is so important to understand, as this skill is needed to build more complex sentences later.

Keep it Simple in the Beginning

To start, keep it super simple! Teach kids to create a simple sentence with one noun and one verb. Cut out the nouns and verbs from the pdfs below to get started. Model how to put a noun and verb together to form a sentence. Some sentences will be silly, but they’ll enjoy them when reading. With these cards, students will have to make sure their sentences make sense!

Writing Sentences

When teaching students how to write a complete sentence, explain that a sentence is made up of two main parts: the noun phrase and the verb phrase. Give the kids a few examples and write them on the board.

These phrases show examples of what we want to say about the topic (what did the who do? or predicate, verb phrase):

• got on the bus
• jogs up the hill
• was wet

Talk about what each phrase is or what it means. Write a few sentences as a class reinforcing the use of a capital letter and end punctuation. Talk about how each sentence is made up of two phrases.

You can even write whole sentences and ask your students to break up the sentence into its two main parts. They might notice the natural pauses that occur in sentences.

Creating a strong foundational understanding of sentence structure is critical to future writing success. By understanding and then building on those skills, students will be better able to grasp grammar and more complex sentences as they grow as readers and writers.

Continued Practice

For an additional activity try this. Write two lists on the board, one of who or what, and one of what happens. You can use students or adults they know, like teachers or other staff members. Choose some funny things to happen to them. I might say “hops on a pot”, or “met a red hen”, or “zaps a bug.” The kids get to pair one item from each list to make a new sentence. They can do this aloud, or you can have them write the sentences down on paper. Assist as needed and encourage kids to create and connect a variety of subjects and predicates. Most kids will need continued practice, so give them the time to master the skill.