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 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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Complex Sentences Matching Game
Download this complex sentence matching game to help your students comprehend and build complex sentences.
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Statement, Question, Command, Exclamation – Cut and Paste Worksheet
Identify statement, command, question, and exclamation sentences with a Types of Sentences Cut and Paste worksheet for 2nd grade.
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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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Verb Worksheet Pack
Use this set of engaging verb worksheets to explore verbs in the Kindergarten classroom.
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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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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 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 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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SPLAT! Types of Sentences Card Game
Play SPLAT!, a types of sentences game to help your students learn to identify statement, command, question, and exclamation 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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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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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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Build a Sentence Activity - Sentence Clothesline
Create simple sentences with this printable Build a Sentence Activity Sentence Clothesline resource.
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Complete Sentence vs Fragment Sentence Sort
Make sentence structure lessons engaging and hands-on with this playful Complete Sentence vs Fragment sorting 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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Complete and Incomplete Sentences Teaching Slides
Teach students about complete and incomplete sentences with this set of teaching slides.
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Complex vs Compound Sentences Worksheets (5-6)
Download a set of Complex vs Compound Sentences worksheets to help your upper elementary students practice writing, identifying and comparing sentence types.
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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.
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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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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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Finish It! - End Punctuation Task Cards (1-2)
Practice adding end marks to sentences with a printable set of Punctuation Task Cards for 1st and 2nd graders.
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Noun and Verb Sentence Puzzles
Use this nouns and verbs game puzzle to help students identify nouns and their matching verbs while building simple sentences in a fun, hands-on way.
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Super Sentence Game - Statement, Command, Exclamation & Question
Turn sentence structure practice into an exciting game with the Super Sentence Game for 1st grade and 2nd grade.
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Editing Incomplete Sentences Teaching Slides
Teach your students how to correct incomplete sentences with a comprehensive Editing Incomplete Sentences Grammar PowerPoint.
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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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Has or Have? Subject Verb Agreement Task Cards
Download these has or have task cards, designed to help students confidently choose the correct verb form while improving their grammar skills.
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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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Dressing Up A Sentence - Interactive or Printable Activity
Encourage students to add more descriptive language into their sentence writing with this activity.
- 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