Structured Language

During our daily Word Work time we do an activity called Structured Language. Our sentences vary depending on what our Star Words (sight words) of the week are. As a review last week, we used the words I and can to create our sentences. First the boys and girls tell me an I can sentence (Ex: I can run. ) I write the sentence on big tablet paper alternating colors for each student ( you can see I used blue and red) I use two different colors so that they students can find their sentence easily. (I can tell them to look at the red or blue) We complete this part on Day 1.  I then write the students sentences on sentence strips in the same color that I used on the tablet. On Day 2 we review the sentences and talk about how sentences have spaces between the words. We draw lines in between all of our words and then the boys and girls cut the sentences apart. They are able to use the tablet paper that has their sentence on to help them put the sentences back together. (I hang it on the wall in a spot of the room that everyone can see it)
We then practice putting our sentences together and notice that all of our sentences start with a capital letter and end with a period. After we finish, we put them into a pocket chart to wait for our next days activity.

On day 3 we take our sentences out of the pocket chart and practice re-arranging and reading our sentences. We touch each word as we read.
On day 4, I will give each child a worksheet that looks like this: (with their sentences)

 Students will cut apart the bottom part and paste the sentence in order on the line. They will trace the sentences and draw a picture to match the words. The boys and girls love "reading" their sentences and this is a great strategy to help them understand sentence structure. You can download the worksheet here.