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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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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Earth Day Build a Sentence Worksheet
Build and write sentences about Earth Day with a cut-and-paste Earth Day worksheet for kindergarten and first grade.
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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, Compound, and Complex Sentences Poster Pack
Display and use these handy anchor charts to teach your students about simple, compound, and complex sentences.
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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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Compound Sentences Worksheet Pack
Build your students' knowledge of using coordinating conjunctions using this compound sentences worksheet pack.
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Embedded Clause Worksheets
Teach the embedded clause with these engaging and easy-to-use worksheets designed to build understanding through clear examples and guided practice.
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Subject Verb Agreement Indefinite Pronouns Exercises
Download this set of subject-verb agreement indefinite pronouns exercises to help your students practice and master this important grammatical concept.
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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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Fix the Sentences Worksheets
Use these Fix the Sentences Worksheets to help your students become confident writers.
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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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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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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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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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FANBOYS Poster for Teaching Coordinating Conjunctions
Display this grammar poster in your classroom to help students choose appropriate coordinating conjunctions using the acronym FANBOYS.
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Very Important Verbs Worksheet
A worksheet in the theme of The Gingerbread Man that explores the importance of verbs.
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Compound and Simple Sentences Task Cards
Use these compound and simple sentence task cards to help your students identify the difference between these types of sentences.
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Stretchy Sentences Worksheets and Poster Pack
Help your students write detailed and descriptive sentences with these Stretchy Sentences Worksheets and Poster Pack.
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Complex Sentences Matching Game
Download this complex sentence matching game to help your students comprehend and build complex 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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Linking Words in Informational Writing Worksheet Pack
Teach how linking words can be used to connect ideas in informative writing with this set of 5 activity worksheets with answers.
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Adjective Clause Digital Quiz
Teach your students about the adjective clause with this interactive digital quiz that helps them identify how these descriptive clauses add detail to sentences.
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Embedded Clauses Matching Game
Explore embedded clauses with this fun matching game that helps students practise building complete sentences in a collaborative setting.
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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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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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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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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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Compound-Complex Sentence Quiz
Assess your students' understanding of compound-complex sentences with a printable Compound-Complex Sentence Quiz.
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Combining Sentences Worksheet Pack
Download and use our combining sentences worksheet pack to help your students learn to combine sentences in various ways.
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Singular and Plural Subject Verb Agreement Worksheets
Engage your students with this set of five singular and plural subject-verb agreement worksheets perfect for elementary school grammar lessons.
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Unscramble Sentences – Sentence Structure Worksheets
Unscramble sentences and practice writing complete statements with a set of printable Scrambled Sentences Worksheets.
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Types of Sentences Posters
Display a set of types of sentences posters to help your students discover various types of sentences.
- 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