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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Who, What, Where Simple Sentence Mini Book
Use this simple sentence mini book to help students identify the parts of a simple sentence.
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United States Patriotic Symbols - Holiday Worksheets
Build and write sentences about patriotic holidays in the United States with a group of six holiday sentence-building worksheets.
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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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Simple, Compound and Complex Sentences Worksheet Pack
Use this set of five grammar worksheets to teach about the structures of simple, compound and complex sentences.
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Simple Sentence Dominoes Printable
Use this set of 30 dominoes to assist your younger students with building and understanding simple 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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Simple Sentence Frames and Word Bank Displays
Engage young writers with this Sentence Frame and Picture Prompts Display.
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Write About It! Halloween Costumes
Differentiate writing instruction in primary grades with a group of leveled Halloween writing prompts about Halloween costumes.
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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.
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Types of Sentences Flip Book
Create a helpful types of sentences flipbook with our Differentiated 4 Kinds of Sentences foldable graphic organizers.
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Run-On Sentence Practice - Worksheet Pack
Give your students more run-on sentence practice with a Run-On Sentence Worksheet pack.
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Simple Sentence Building Activity - Caterpillar
Use this simple sentence building activity in the form of a caterpillar to have students identify the parts of a simple sentence.
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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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Compound, Complex, and Simple Sentences PowerPoint Slideshow
Introduce your students to compound, complex and simple sentences with an engaging types of sentences PowerPoint.
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Identify Sentence or Fragment Worksheet Pack
Use an Identify Sentence or Fragment worksheet to help your students build their sentence writing skills.
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Simple Sentence Activity Spinner Template
Engage young writers with this fun and interactive Simple Sentence Activity - Spinner Template.
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Highlighting Parts of a Sentence Worksheet Pack
Use this Highlighting Parts of a Sentence Worksheet Pack to help students identify and understand the key components that make a complete sentence.
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Writing Simple Sentences - Write the Room Activity
Use this simple sentence writing activity to learn how to write simple sentences with words around the room
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Compound Sentence Strip Activity
Use these simple sentences and coordinating conjunctions to help students practice forming compound sentences.
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Compound Sentences Worksheet Pack
Build your students' knowledge of using coordinating conjunctions using this compound sentences worksheet pack.
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Compound Sentences Interactive Game
Use this camp-themed simple and compound sentences interactive game to help students practice identifying simple and compound sentences.
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Sequence Words Worksheet Pack
Enhance your students' writing with this sequence words worksheet pack featuring 9 scaffolded activities that help young writers master sequencing events and ideas.
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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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Sentence Types & Punctuation for Grade 1 and 2 - Four Corners Game
Review sentence types and punctuation for grade 1 and 2 students with an engaging Four Corners Punctuation Game.
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Picture Prompts for Simple Sentences Flipbook
Encourage early writers to build confidence with this interactive flipbook!
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Simple Sentence Picture Prompt Worksheet Pack
Support early writers with this Simple Sentence Picture Prompt Worksheet Pack, featuring 12 worksheets.
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Sentence Types Quiz (1st Grade)
Assess your students ability to identify types of sentences and their matching punctuation with a printable Sentence Types Quiz for 1st grade.
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Trace, Draw and Order Sentences Worksheets
Use this set of sentence cut-and-paste worksheets to help your students build simple sentences.
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Halloween Writing Prompts - Bats
Differentiate writing instruction in primary grades with a group of leveled Halloween writing prompts about bats.
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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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Dependent Clause Worksheet Pack
Engage learners with this dependent clause worksheet pack designed to help students confidently identify and understand clauses in complex sentences.
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Past, Present, and Future Tense Worksheets - Grades 1/2
Provide students with additional verb tense practice with worksheets focusing on changing verbs into past, present, and future tense.
- 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