Writing Sentences
Components of Sentences
As your children start to write, you will want to teach them to name the parts and features of a sentence.
Writing instruction involves a specialized vocabulary, like any discipline. Teach these terms to your
children. Once a child has learned a term (and is clear on the concept it names) begin to hold him
responsible for correct usage when he self-corrects before handing in his drafts.
 Capital letter: always begins a sentence. (Some words within a sentence are also capitalized.)
 Ending punctuation: these will vary according to the type of sentence, but will always be either a
period, question mark, or an exclamation point.
 Subject: although a subject can be implied (“understood”), there will always be one in every sentence. We speak of “simple subjects” and “complex” or “complete” subjects.
 Verb: something has to happen during the sentence’s course. This “happening” is called the verb, or
the “predicate” or the “complete predicate.” Verbs may be “action” or “state of being” verbs.
 Complete thought: Each sentence written must contain a complete thought, by which is meant,
grammatically speaking, that there is always a subject (possibly understood) and a verb. Otherwise
it is labeled as a fragment.
Types of Sentences
Teach children that there are four basic kinds of sentences. As you are doing dictation exercises, pause
every now and then to ask a child, “What kind of sentence was that?” Another use for this vocabulary is
to give a student a clue when he has forgotten to properly punctuate the end of his sentence. Say to him,
“John, you put a period at the end of this sentence. What kind of a sentence is it, though?” (Correct
answer, “Interrogative! So, it must need a question mark!”)
 Declarative: making a statement. These sentences always end with a period.
 Imperative: give a command. End these with either a period or exclamation point, depending on
the amount of emotion present.
 Interrogative: ask a question. Such sentences always end with a question mark.
 Exclamatory: express strong feeling. Use an exclamation point at the end of this type of sentence.
How to Teach Young Students to Write Simple Sentences
Whether using sentence pockets, a white board, or words on a paper, begin with a subject. For
young students, it is fun to begin with the student’s name as the subject of sample sentences.
You may also encourage students to use subjects from historical topics you may be studying.
Example subjects:
 Daniella
 Romans
Now ask, “What did (the subject) do”? Teach the student to add simple verbs to make simple, yet
complete sentences.
Example verbs: now your child can make complete sentences!
 “Daniella sang.”
 “Romans build.”
Point out the all of the components of the complete sentences above (simple subjects and verbs—
predicates—and teach the child your preferred method of marking subjects and verbs. (Your grammar
program will give you an indication of this in written exercises, and the section on Sentence Pockets
explains how to do it with manipulatives.)
There are, of course, many more terms for parts of a sentence for your child to learn as he progresses through his grade
school years. From his grammar book, he will learn about phrases, clauses, and the parts of speech that define them. These
are the most basic sentence components, and they are all that young writers need learn at first. Introduce more and more
complex terms as your child’s grammar program expands his ability to analyze and write ever more complex sentences.
¶
Levels 1-6
See Writing
Aids’ “Steps in
the Writing
Process” supplements of sample
self-proofing
charts for all
levels.
An “understood”
subject is usually
present when
one has a verb in
the imperative
mood. Example:
“Shut the window, please!”
The understood
subject is “you.”
This is generally written
“(You) Shut the
window, please”
in grammar
exercise books.
See Writing
Aids’ “Sentence
Pockets” for detailed directions
on making and
using a sentence
pocket.
¶
From here on out, other words will be added in the order studied in either the Writing Assignments
or grammar book. For instance, adding a direct object (which is a word that functions as a noun
or pronoun) and articles (a, an, or the) to the sentence will give the student more options in your
next session.
Example sentences with added articles:
 Daniella sings a song.
 The Romans build a road.
Don’t worry if the student cannot identify a direct object or an article yet. In your next session,
you’ll want to ask leading questions to help him identify modifiers even before he’s fully certain of
the grammatical name for the word’s function. Here are examples of questions you can ask:
 For adjectives:
 “What kind?”
 “Which one?”
 “What color?”
 “How many?”
Example question: “Daniella sings what kind of song?”
Answer: “Daniella sings a happy song.” (Or sad, quiet, or pretty)
Example question: “The Romans build how many roads?”
Answer: “The Romans build many roads.” (Or few, fifty, or no)
 For adverbs:
 “How”?
 You may choose either to continue with the adjective above, or leave it off and start fresh.
Example question: “How does Daniella sing?”
Answer: Daniella sings happily. (Or slowly, loudly, or softly)
Example question: “How do Romans build roads?
Answer: “The Romans quickly build many roads.”
Next, maintain a young student’s interest by introducing prepositional phrases, interjections, and
conjunctions.
 Start with prepositions: words that show position or motion. Have the student choose a preposition from his Word Bank or reference section of his Grammar and Composition Notebook.
 Then ask “_____ what?”
 Or ask “_______ whom?”
 Or ask “where?”
Example question: “Daniella sings on what?” (Or, before whom? Or, where?)
Answer: “Daniella sings on the stage. (Or, before an audience, in the kitchen)
Example question: “Romans quickly build many roads beside what?” (Or, where?)
Answer: “Romans quickly build many roads beside the forests.” (Or through the forests)
 Have fun adding in the occasional interjection.
Example: “Wow! Daniella sings beautifully on the stage!” (Or My! Look! Oh!)
 Conjunctions can be added into sentence to make compound subjects, verbs, direct objects,
etc. They are also useful in joining two shorter, similar sentences together.
Example: “Daniella and Bethany sing beautifully on the stage.”
Example: “Romans quickly build many roads and monuments beside the forests.”
Encourage students to double check regularly for the components of complete sentences in their
writing (whether dictated as young students or as truly written by them as they get older).
¶
Adding interest to sentences
After a student has demonstrated a clear understanding of how words function in a basic sentence
and can compose solid, complete sentences with regularity, you can begin to ask him to check his
sentences for vivid adjectives and quality adverbs. See the Writing Aids section entitled “Word
Games” for help with teaching students of all ages to add such words to their sentences more easily.
(Teach students in Grades 5 and up to use a thesaurus for this purpose, and encourage all children to
choose the best word for the thought they are trying to express when editing their written drafts.)
“Vivid” words
are also called
“specific” or
“colorful” or
“concrete” or
“quality” words
in various
writing
programs.