Teaching Sentence Types In First Grade

Teaching grammar and beginning writing skills is a big part of the daily curriculum in the first grade classroom. Firsties are just beginning to get their feet wet with writing and learning how to compose sentences, so they need lots of practice! One of the topics we work on in-depth is the four types of sentences. If you're looking for a fun and comprehensive way to teach sentence types, you're in luck! Today, I'll be sharing my step-by-step method for teaching sentence types and punctuation in first grade. 

Why Teaching Sentence Types Matters

Teaching sentence types is an essential component of basic grammar. When young children are just beginning their journey in developing writing skills, it's important to teach the four types of sentences. When children understand that different sentences will convey different meanings, they can begin to apply this in their own writing. It's so important to teach sentence types to your new writers to encourage clarity in writing and help children understand how punctuation helps to convey meaning and tone. 

How To Introduce Sentence Types 

When we first begin discussing this topic, I like to start out by showing my class a fun video on the topic. There are so many great sentence structure videos out there, but I love this one. It covers each type of sentence in-depth and gives a quick and engaging overview, perfect for a first-grade attention span.

After watching our video, we discuss the four types of sentences in depth. I like to hang anchor chart posters on my classroom board that provides a definition of each. We run through these as a follow-up to see how much students remembered. The posters I like to use cover:

• Declarative (or statements)
• Interrogative (or questions)
• Exclamatory (or exclamations)
• Imperative (or commands)

When first discussing sentence types with my kiddos, I use both sets of describing words to help them understand what each sentence will convey. The posters we use show 3 examples of each sentence type. I call on volunteers to read the sentences to the class and we talk about what makes each sentence fit that category. Firsties are usually pretty quick to grasp this concept and eager to try and find the similarities and differences among the sentences. 

Working With Sentence Types In Small Groups 

Once we've done a thorough introduction of sentence types, I like to work on a mini-book with students in my small groups. You can also do this as a whole group, but I prefer smaller groups of kiddos so that I can make sure each of the students has a full understanding of the topic. 

The mini-booklets we work on include a definition of each sentence type and examples. I typically read these pages aloud and have students listen carefully for a quick review. Afterward, there is a page for each sentence type that asks students to read a few sentences and circle the one that fits each type. This is a great way for students to work on identifying a specific sentence type among a group. 

Finally, students will write their own sentences for each type. This one might need to be done as a group, depending on the skill level of your students. I like to group children with similar writing skills together so that students who can work more independently are given that opportunity while those that need group support can also receive it. The mini-books are a great reference for students to keep at their desks as we work on sentence types in our practice activities as well!

Practicing Sentence Types 

After working individually with students, I like to send them off to practice on their own. We use a few different materials for practicing sentence types in my classroom. One of the activities I love is a hands-on sentence-sorting game. Ahead of time, I prep task cards that feature different sentences. Students will work alone or in pairs to sort the sentences into categories and then record their answers on a worksheet. This hands-on activity is the perfect follow-up to the small group sessions. 

Another resource I utilize for reviewing sentence types is a variety of no-prep printable worksheets. These come in handy and can be used for centers, independent practice,  or homework. Some of the things I target with our worksheets include: 

• Choosing punctuation for sentences, based on type. 
• Cutting and pasting proper punctuation to sentences. 
• Identifying types of sentences.  
• Sorting sentences by type. 
• Identifying if correct punctuation is used. 
• Finishing sentences to align with specific types. 
• Changing sentences into new types. 

Using a variety of worksheets that target each of these skills helps to ensure my students get plenty of practice with the four types of sentences and using punctuation correctly. 

Teach Types Of Sentences In Your Classroom

I have found that using this blend of teaching styles that includes whole group introduction, targeted practice in small groups, center activities, and printables is a great way to help my students grasp the four types of sentences. I love that using these activities provides many different ways for my students to absorb the information to meet a variety of learning styles. 

If you're looking to teach types of sentences in a fun and comprehensive way, you can check out all of these activities in my 4 Types of Sentences resource in my shop. This unit comes with everything you need to effectively teach sentence types and help your students master ending punctuation! 

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