Constructing Sentences with Makedo

Students will:

• Identify components of a complete sentence.

• Differentiate between incomplete and complete sentences.

• Employ the “COPS” strategy to check for complete sentences (Capitalisation, Organisation, Punctuation, Spelling).

• Identify adjectives and adverbs.

• Write complete sentences containing descriptive details.

Students can:

• Rearrange cardboard words to sequence complete sentences.

• Add descriptive details to complete sentences.

• Use the Makedo Scru-Driver and Scrus to rearrange cardboard words into complete sentences.

Capitalisation, organisation, punctuation, syntax, adjectives, adverbs, fragments, complete sentences, mentor text

Mentor text: 

Choosing a mentor text is crucial when teaching young learners how to write great sentences. For this lesson, find texts that:

• Clearly demonstrate simple complete sentences

• Demonstrate excellent use of adjectives and adverbs in adding descriptive details. 

This text will be an anchor for students to refer back to as they improve their writing. 

COPS: 

This mnemonic device will help young writers remember the essential steps in constructing sentences. Check capitalisation in the first words of a sentence and when using proper nouns. Check the organisation of each sentence (e.g., is there appropriate space between words, is the sentence structured correctly?). Be careful to include punctuation at the end of every sentence. Last but not least, check the spelling of words in each sentence.

Think/Speak/Write method for composing complete sentences: 

Model to students how a sentence is a complete thought. Discuss how every complete sentence must start with a capital letter, have a subject and an action, and have correct punctuation at the end of the sentence. Share the COPS method above and think/speak/write complete sentences from the mentor text. 

Adding descriptive words:

Model to students how to add adjectives in front of nouns to make sentences descriptive and share how the meaning changes with different word choices.