Writing sentences can be difficult for some of our students. No matter what age our kids are, using correct punctuation, writing neatly, and spacing words correctly can be a challenge. Annnnnnnd don't even get me started on using capital letters correctly.
I have a couple activities that can help.
If you like these ideas, don't forget to grab the FREE Printables that go with this post. We can email them to you, or you can download them from the 'Files' section of our Create-abilities Teacher Community Facebook Group. If you haven't joined the group yet, it's a great way to stay up-to-speed on everything Create-abilities, including product announcements, sales, freebies, live broadcasts, giveaways, and more!
SENTENCE SWAG ANCHOR CHART
The first is this anchor chart. Giving kids an acronym to remember important parts of writing sentences can be powerful.
I am not an artist and find making cutesy anchor charts a challenge. I really like the idea of using clip art to make my charts engaging. I also think it helps them stand out. I got the building and word clip art from Melonheadz and the superhero clip art from Educlips.
This acronym helps your kids remember the important parts of a sentence and all you need to do to remind them to write correctly is say something like, "Make sure your sentences have SWAG!"
You can slide this poster into their writing journals or notebooks so they can easily reference it if needed.
HIGHLIGHTING THE POSITIVE
Another activity I like to do is have students go through a writing a piece and highlight the positive.
After writing a piece, have your students create a key at the top or bottom of the page. For younger students you may want to focus on only one or two things. For older students you can focus on 3-5. Have them go through their writing piece (or a partners) and highlight all the times they used SWAG correctly. This will help them focus on the positive and will show them good examples of what to do in the future. You can also use this highlighting technique for punctuation marks, word choice, spelling, and more!
SENTENCE STRIPS FOR ADDITIONAL PRACTICE
You can also have students highlight pre-made sentences on sentence strips. This can be done in centers or during writing groups.
Students can also fix mistakes and rewrite the sentences in their journals. You can laminate them so they can be reused.
If you are looking for a quick and easy storage solution for your sentence strips, you can buy small command hooks (affiliate link) and attach them to the wall. Then you can clip your strips together and place them on the hooks.
This keeps everything organized and right where you need them.
SPAGHETTI AND MEATBALL SPACES ANCHOR CHART
I really like this spaghetti and meatball spaces anchor chart. Some of our kids (even in the upper grades) have a hard time writing their words and sentences with the correct spacing. Theythinkthatalltheyneedtodoiswritewords. It can be extremely hard to read and make sense of their writing. This chart helps them see that thin, spaghetti spaces go between the letters and bigger meatball spaces go between the words.
When practicing this skill you have your students actually draw the little noodle lines and the big meatball spaces on their writing. This can help them physically space out their letters and words.
You can also have them practice this skill using sentence strips and sticky notes. That way you can reuse the sentence strips again and again.
I created this video for you to see these ideas in action!
If you want your free copy of these exclusive anchor charts, you can get yours here or by clicking on any of the pictures.
PEACE, LOVE, AND STICKY NOTES,