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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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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Statement, Question, Command & Exclamation Sentences Teaching Slides
Introduce statement, command, question, and exclamation sentences with an interactive teaching slide deck.
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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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Cause and Effect Words Worksheet Pack
Teach cause and effect words effectively with this comprehensive pack of 9 progressive worksheets designed to help your students master relationships in writing.
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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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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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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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Compound Sentence Quiz
Assess your students ability to identify, write, and edit compound sentences with a printable Compound Sentence Quiz.
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Cut and Paste Sentences Worksheets (K-1)
Practice making simple sentences with a set of printable Cut and Paste Sentences Worksheets.
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Active Voice and Passive Voice Poster
Differentiate between active and passive voice with this classroom poster.
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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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Build a Sentence Activity - Sentence Clothesline
Create simple sentences with this printable Build a Sentence Activity Sentence Clothesline resource.
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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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Combining Sentences Anchor Chart Pack (5-6)
Use our Combining Sentences Anchor Chart Pack to help your students learn new ways to combine simple sentences in their writing.
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SCOOT! Finish the Sentence Game for Sentence Fragments
Use this Finish the Sentence Game to help your students practice correcting sentence fragments.
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The Unsinkable Titanic - Weekly Paragraph and Sentence Combining + Answer Key
Practice combining simple sentences to form compound and complex sentences with the Unsinkable Titanic Weekly Paragraphs and Sentence Combining worksheets & answer key.
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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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Simple Sentence Activity Spinner Template
Engage young writers with this fun and interactive Simple Sentence Activity - Spinner Template.
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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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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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Google Slides Interactive- Past, Present, and Future Verbs Activity
Develop student skills using the correct forms of past, present, and future tense verbs with this Google Slides Interactive activity.
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Transition Words for Narrative Writing Worksheet Pack
Teach your students how to use transition words for narrative writing with this set of 5 activity worksheets with answers.
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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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Verb Worksheet Pack
Use this set of engaging verb worksheets to explore verbs in the Kindergarten classroom.
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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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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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Adjectival Clause Teaching Slides
Teach the power of the adjectival clause with this engaging slide deck designed to help elementary school students boost their descriptive writing.
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Dependent Clause Worksheets
Explore how a dependent clause can show purpose, time, reason, concession and condition with this engaging set of worksheets for 5th grade students.
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Cohesion in a Paragraph Worksheet Pack
Strengthen cohesion in a paragraph with these five engaging worksheets designed to help students master cohesive devices while making writing more connected.
- 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