Developing better sentences
Varying the start of a sentence
Consider starting with:
A conjunction – Although it was cold...
A verb
- Moving along the corridor...
An adverb
- Slowly creeping around the corner...
A preposition - Underneath the table...
A simile
- As quietly as a mouse...
Rearranging. Demonstrate using whiteboard, and then ask children to try rearranging their own sentences can done using post it notes on the table or kinaesthetically moving about the class.
Choose a sentence from a book:
e.g. That evening, after a supper of corn bread and boiled potatoes, the wood-carver sat down at his bench.
Divide it up into sections –
When :
That evening, after a supper of corn bread and boiled potatoes
Who:
the wood-carver
What:
sat down
Where:
at his bench
Rearrange the parts of the sentence to see how many different versions make sense. Draw attention to use
of comma – easier to hear pauses – and difference between spoken and written language.
e.g. At his bench the wood-carver sat down that evening, after a supper of corn bread and boiled potatoes, or
The wood-carver, after a supper of corn bread and boiled potatoes that evening, sat down at his bench.
Add adjectives and adverbs
First, ensure children have a good selection of adjectives they can draw on.
Adjective activities – an adjective answers the question ‘what is it like?’ in one word.
 It can be helpful to have a picture or objects to describe, rather than have to use imagination every time.
 Remind pupils to use their senses.
 List adjectives that are synonymous and put them in order of strength.
 Class competition. Choose an adjective – e.g. sad. Both the teacher and the class (can work in pairs or
threes) writes as many synonyms as they can thing of in three minutes. At the end of three minutes, the
teacher reads out his/her list. If any of the children have the same word, both the teacher and children
cross it out. Any words left get a point each.
 Group activity to create a class thesaurus. Each group has a different coloured felt pen and sheet of A3
paper with a different adjective on it.
A String Poem is a good activity for extending vocabulary
 Choose a subject (e.g. Bears, Pirates, Snakes, Books) and write the name three times to form the first and
last lines.
 Think of three adjectives o describe the subject.
 Write the three adjectives, each on a separate post-it note, to form each line, adding the name of the
topic at the end of each line.
 Read the poem together and edit – move words, change any repeats etc.
Snakes, snakes, snakes!
Winding, hissing, wavy snakes.
Fast, evil, poisonous snakes.
Silent, snappy, stripy snakes.
Sly, sneaky, slithery snakes.
Snakes, snakes, snakes!
Try giving different groups different instructions, e.g.

think of any three good describing words

think of three describing words all staring with the same letter as the subject

think of three describing words one with one syllable, the next with two syllables and the third with
three syllables

think of three good describing words all staring with the same letter as the subject, one with one
syllable, one with two and the next with three syllables.

think of three adjectives with similar meaning, each being stronger than the last

think of three adjectives to describe colour/feeling/size etc
When using adjectives in a sentence:
 Use the best ones you can think of
 Use two adjectives together, separated by a comma
 Use adjectives starting with the same letter (alliteration) sometimes.
Using adjectives to improve sentences – e.g.
1. Name the who or what and use an adjective to describe the object or character starting with the same
letter
2. Say what is happening and think of an adverb to describe how this is being done – remember it ends with
‘ly’.
3. Say when this is happening and add an adjective to describe it.
4. State where this is happening and this time add an adjective to describe the place.
5. Read through what you’ve written, could you add an extra adjective or adverb somewhere?
6. Rearrange the sentence several different ways until you are happy.
Extending sentences.
Using conjunctions. Make up some more sentences of your own and rearrange them.
Write a simple sentence
e.g. Sam was sad
Use the conjunction strips and ask pupils to extend the sentence.
Sam was sad until Thomas came to play football.
Show how the conjunction can be moved to the beginning.
Until Thomas came to play football, Sam was sad.
Drop-ins – adding clauses
Write a short sentence
Sam sat on the bench.
Say something about him and add it as a clause between two commas. If needed, give examples of words that
can be used to start the clause – a... who... or a verb...
e.g. Sam, a small sad boy, sat on the bench.
Sam, who felt lonely and sad, sat on the bench.
Sam, thinking about his how miserable he felt, sat on the bench.