When it comes to teaching sentence structure, it can be boring and somewhat tedious. However, that’s not the case with this activity! If you want your learners to grasp what you’re teaching, you have to make it fun. These silly sentences cards are just what your students need!
By the time our learners reach the end of first grade and into second grade, they are ready to expand sentences. No more two to three word sentences. Your writers are at the age where they learn to expand their sentences to give readers a better picture. In second grade, standards include adding adjectives, prepositions, prepositional phrases as well as subject-verb agreement.
Color Coded Words
I love using picture books to teach sentence structure. Find your favorite books to share with your learners and show them how published authors write!
Each card is color coded and has a job.
The red is the first word, or introductory word, of the sentence.
The orange cards are the adjectives that describe the subject of the sentence.
Yellow cards are the subject (noun) that the sentence is about.
The green cards are the verbs. And at this point, your writers should know a sentence needs a noun (subject) and verb (predicate).
To add a little more depth to the sentences, prepositional phrases are what you need! Prepositional phrases give our readers a better picture in our minds as we read. I always tell my writers that when we read our writing, everyone should have the same picture in their mind! Here are the prepositional phrase cards.
Let’s Make Silly Sentences!
Now the fun begins! There are many ways to use this writing center in your classroom!
Personally, I have my students turn over the cards face down. They randomly pick a card from each colored stack. Then they build their sentence based on what they pulled. There will be so many laughs that they will beg to make more sentences!
Illustrate Your Sentence
Writing is all about putting a great picture in the reader’s mind! After your writers create their silly sentence, they illustrate what they created. This is my favorite part because I find myself giggling a little when I sit down to read them.
If we have time at the end of the week, I give my students some time to share their silly sentences with the class. It’s a great way to end the week…and maybe they come back Monday ready to learn more about writing!
You can grab my Silly Sentences writing center for FREE by clicking the download button!
Be sure to check out my Writer’s Workshop pack. It provides you with everything you need to run a smooth writer’s workshop!
