Complete Sentences – 5 Authentic Activities

Are you teaching your students how to write complete sentences?

Here are five engaging and authentic activities you can use to help your students use complete sentences correctly in their writing:

1. Observe a Mentor Sentence

Introduce complete sentences with a mentor sentence so students can observe how authors use them in their writing to express a complete idea. Then you can invite your students to imitate the mentor sentence by writing imitation sentences that resemble the mentor sentence. Check out this 5-Day Mentor Sentence Lesson for complete sentences.

Steps:

1. Show students a mentor sentence with a complete sentence. (See image below.)
2. Ask students what they notice in the mentor sentence.
3. Lead students into a discussion about how authors need 4 things to compose a complete sentence: a beginning capital, a subject, a predicate, and an end mark.
4. Invite students to practice the skill by writing imitation sentences that resemble the mentor sentence.
   • Example: Mom kicks the soccer ball.

Check out this 5-Day Mentor Sentence Grammar Lesson.

2. Complete Sentences Scoot Game

This fun activity will give your students the practice they need to achieve mastery of the skill. This activity can be completed in a whole group or small group setting. You can get this ready-made Scoot game or make your own.

Steps:

1. Create 10 – 20 task cards, some with complete sentences and some with incomplete sentences.
2. Print the task cards and post them around your classroom.
3. Give students a recording sheet and tell them to visit each task card around the classroom.
4. Students need to find the number on their recording sheet that corresponds to the number on the task card. Students need to write “Yes” if the sentence is complete or “No” if it’s not.

3. Complete Sentences Boom Cards

Boom Cards are interactive, self-checking digital task cards. They are an engaging, low-prep option for reinforcing grammar skills. This Boom deck includes 16 Boom Cards. Each card includes a sentence that is either complete or incomplete. Students will click “Yes” if the sentence is complete or “No” if it’s not. Students will get immediate feedback which will help them achieve mastery of the skill.

Steps:

1. Assign this Boom deck.
2. Click on the link in the download and then click “Redeem”.
3. Sign in to Boom Learning or create a free account.
4. Go to: Library – Action – Fast Pin – Generate New Pin
5. You will get a pin code that you can share with your students.
6. Students go to the Boom app or boomlearning.com and click on FastPlay and enter the pin to play the Boom deck.

4. Revise for Complete Sentences

This activity will hold students accountable for applying irregular plural nouns in their writing.

Steps:

1. Create a revising checklist related to the skill.
2. Model how to revise your own writing with the revising checklist.
3. Ask students to revise their own written piece using the revising checklist.
4. Invite a few students to share revisions they made.

5. Read and Record Complete Sentences

This activity will help students to observe how authors use complete sentences in their writing. 

Steps:

1. Have students take out an independent reading book.
2. Have students take out a notebook and make 2 columns listed as: “Statements” and “Questions”.
3. Explain to students that they need to scan their books and record as many statements and questions in those two categories as they can in 5-10 minutes. Set a timer.
4. Invite students to share the statements and questions they found.

These 5 meaningful activities are guaranteed to help your students to use complete sentences correctly in their writing!

More Mentor Sentence Lessons

Interested in more mentor sentence lessons? Check out these full-year grammar curriculums for 1st – 5th grade.

1st Grade Grammar Curriculum

2nd Grade Grammar Curriculum

3rd Grade Grammar Curriculum

4th Grade Grammar Curriculum

5th Grade Grammar Curriculum

Watch this preview video to see this mentor sentence curriculum in action.

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