Making a Complete Sentence

We spent most of the first quarter learning about writing sentences.  One of the key things the children have to understand is what makes a complete sentence.  I've found one of the most effective ways to get this concept across to the children is to tell them a sentence is made up of two parts, a who part, and a what part.  For the sake of not confusing first graders, I don't distinguish between people and animals and other inanimate objects as the who in a sentence.

We spend several weeks looking at various sentences and identifying the who and what part of each sentence to makes sure they are complete sentences.  When we do group writing, I often will put just one part or the other of the sentence and have them tell me whether or not it's a complete sentence and why it is or is not a complete sentence.

I also provide lots of opportunities for the children to write in complete sentences by providing a daily writing prompt in our morning work time and having the children respond in sentences.  When I check their writing, if I see a child only has a phrase, I'll ask them to apply the test.  For instance, if the prompt was what is your favorite pet, and they write "my dog," I'll ask them who.  They will respond "my dog."  Then I will say "what," and they realize that there is no what part of the sentence. So after they tell me "what," they go back and rewrite their sentence to make it a complete sentence.

After practicing this for around three to four weeks, I'm ready to let the children work on making compete sentences independently.  I use the free resource that I created for my store, Fall Subject Predicate Sentence Puzzles, as an independent center.
                         

 I use the sentence recording sheet as a formative assessment to judge whether or not they understand that sentences have two parts, the who and the what part.  If they can correctly color the who and what part of the sentences, they understand the concept.  If they have trouble distinguishing between the who and what part of the sentences, they need more instruction on the concept.

If you would like to try out this resource in your classroom, click on any of the pictures above to visit my store and download it for free!

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