Sentence Structure Teaching Resources
Teach students the elements of sentence structure this school year with printable worksheets, sentence-building activities, sorting games and more elementary school teaching resources designed to help extend your students' understanding of how to write clear and concise sentences that follow the rules of English grammar.
This extensive collection of teaching resources has been created by teachers for teachers like you. Aligned to the Common Core curriculum, the ELA collection includes editable worksheets and teaching presentations and more to save elementary teachers time on lesson planning.
Created by expert teachers, each resource in this sentence collection has been carefully reviewed and curated by our team. That means it's ready to use in the classroom! You'll even find editable resources, plus differentiated options.
New to teaching about sentence structure, or just looking for fresh ways to engage your students? Read on for a primer from our teaching team!
English Sentence Structure Explained
From subjects to predicates, objects to clauses, the English language is packed with rules specific to sentence structure that students need to learn on the way to becoming proficient writers.
Ready to break down how to build a sentence in English and look at some examples? Let's go!
Subject
The subject of a sentence is the noun or pronoun that performs the action or is described in the sentence.
For example, in the sentence "Jaquan did his homework," Jaquan is the subject.
Predicate
The predicate of a sentence expresses the action or state of being in a sentence.
Let's go back to the sentence "Jaquan did his homework." In this case, did is the predicate.
Object
The object of a sentence is a noun or pronoun that receives the action of the verb.
For example, "homework" would be the object in "Jaquan did his homework."
Complement
The complement of a sentence is a word or phrase that completes the meaning of a sentence.
The complement can be a direct object, indirect object, or subject complement.
For example: "a doctor" in "She became a doctor."
Modifier
A modifier in a sentence provides additional information about a word or phrase in the sentence. It can be an adjective or an adverb. Example: "kind" in "She was a kind teacher."
What Are Clauses?
Clauses are groups of words containing a subject and a verb. They're important to understand when learning sentence structure. After all, one kind of clause is a sentence!
There are two main types of clauses:
- Independent Clause — An independent clause can stand alone as a complete sentence because it expresses a complete thought. For example: "I did all of my homework."
- Dependent Clause — A dependent clause cannot stand alone as a sentence because it does not express a complete thought. It relies on an independent clause to make sense. Example: "When I went to the store," (Dependent clause) "I bought an apple." (Independent clause). Dependent clauses can be paired with independent clauses to build sentences.
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3rd Grade English Worksheets - Christmas Printables
Add some Christmas spirit to your December grammar lessons with a printable pack of Christmas-themed 3rd-grade English worksheets.
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Christmas Worksheet - Sentence Editing
Edit and correct capitalization, punctuation, spelling, and spacing errors with a set of Christmas Fix the Sentence worksheets.
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Christmas Writing Center - Types of Sentences for 2nd Grade
Help your students answer “What Type of Sentence Is This?’ with a printable Christmas sorting activity on the 4 types of sentences.
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Complete and Incomplete Sentence Task Cards
These task cards are best used as independent practice or formative assessment assignments during sentence structure lessons.
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Complex Sentence Worksheet Pack
Help your students practice writing complex sentences with our printable Complex Sentence Worksheet Pack for upper elementary.
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Simple & Compound Sentence Structure Lesson Slides (2-3)
Use our Simple and Compound Sentence Structure Lesson Slides to teach your 2nd and 3rd graders about sentences, subjects, predicates, and simple/compound sentences.
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Combining Sentences With "And" Worksheets (2 - 4)
Use these printable Combining Sentences With ‘And’ Worksheets to help your students practice using the conjunction ‘and’ to form compound sentences.
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Christmas - Simple, Complex, and Compound Sentence Sort
Practice reading, identifying, and writing simple, compound, and complex sentences with a Christmas cut and paste worksheet.
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Write About It! Spiders
Differentiate writing instruction in primary grades with a group of leveled informational writing prompts about spiders
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Subject Verb Agreement Sentences Sort
Get your students sorting subject-verb agreement sentences quickly and effectively with this engaging hands-on activity.
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Topic Sentence Worksheet Pack
Use this topic sentence worksheet pack to teach your students about how to structure clear and cohesive paragraphs using strong opening statements.
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Sentence Cohesion Worksheet Pack
Use this sentence cohesion worksheet pack to teach your students about how to write clear sentences containing strongly connected ideas.
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Make a Sentence Activity Task Cards
Boost early writing skills with this engaging Make a Sentence Activity designed to help students understand sentence structure through fun, hands-on learning.
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Sentence Building Cards and Mat
Use these Sentence Building Cards with Mat to explore the main features of a simple sentence with your Kinder students.
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Compound Sentences Interactive Game
Play a Compound Sentences Interactive game to practice identifying, correcting, and writing compound sentences.
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Alice in Wonderland Escape Room - Simple, Compound and Complex Sentences
Help Alice escape Sentence-Land in this Alice in Wonderland Escape Room Game covering simple, compound, and complex sentences.
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Writing Compound-Complex Sentences Worksheet
Use a Compound-Complex Sentences Worksheet to help your upper elementary and middle school students learn to use advanced sentence structures in their writing.
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Daily Practice - Compound Sentences Worksheets
Use our Daily Compound Sentences worksheets to help your students identify, write, and edit compound sentences.
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Compound Sentence Quiz
Assess your students ability to identify, write, and edit compound sentences with a printable Compound Sentence Quiz.
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Punctuation & Sentence Types Worksheet Pack (1-2)
Identify the four types of sentences and their punctuation marks with a printable set of Punctuation & Sentence Type Worksheets for 1st and 2nd Grade.
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Simple, Compound and Complex Sentences Worksheets
Use this set of five grammar worksheets to teach about the structures of simple, compound and complex sentences.
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Write About It! Spring Sentence Writing Worksheets
Introduce new writers to writing complete sentences in early grades with a group of kindergarten writing prompts about spring.
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Does or Do? Subject Verb Agreement Task Cards
Download these does or do task cards, designed to help students confidently choose the correct verb form while improving their grammar skills.
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Is or Are? Subject Verb Agreement Task Cards
Download these is or are task cards, designed to help students confidently choose the correct verb form while improving their grammar skills.
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Was or Were? Subject Verb Agreement Task Cards
Download these was or were task cards, designed to help students confidently choose the correct verb form while improving their grammar skills.
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Persuasive Writing Bump It Up Wall – Grade 4
Help your 4th-grade students "bump up" their persuasive writing with this bulletin board display.
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Four Types of Sentences Poster Collection - Primary and Intermediate
Display these posters highlighting the four types of sentences and teach your students to use varied sentence types in their writing.
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Sentence vs Fragment Worksheet Pack
Help students master the difference between what is a sentence and a fragment with this easy-to-use Sentence vs Fragment Worksheet Pack.
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Sentence in Correct Order Digital Game
Help your students master the fundamentals of sentence structure with the Arrange Sentence in Correct Order Game!
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6th Grade Compound Sentence Writing Worksheets - Conjunctions & Semicolons
Print these 6th Grade Compound Sentence Writing Worksheets to help your students practice writing compound sentences using conjunctions and semicolons.
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Color By Code - Simple or Compound Sentences Worksheet
Use a Simple or Compound Sentences Color By Code worksheet to help your students practice identifying simple and compound sentence types.
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Fixing Sentence Fragments Worksheet Pack
Use this no-prep sentence fragments worksheet pack to help your students improve their sentence writing skills.
- Sentence Structure Worksheets
- Sentence Structure Games
- Sentence Structure Templates
- Sentence Structure Posters
- Sentence Structure for Kindergarten
- Sentence Structure for 1st Grade
- Sentence Structure for 2nd Grade
- Sentence Structure for 3rd Grade
- Sentence Structure for 4th Grade
- Sentence Structure for 5th Grade
- Sentence Structure for 6th Grade