Grades 2–3
Stretch a Sentence
Kids stretch two short sentences by adding what kind, where, when and why, then write the long version.
Writing worksheet · Sentence building
Sentence or Not?
Eight word groups to sort into complete sentences and fragments, then two fragments to fix.
- Grade level
- Grades 1–2
- Time
- About 20 minutes
- Topic
- Sentence building
- Answer key
- Yes, page 2 of the PDF
- Kids practice
- Complete sentences, Subjects and predicates, Sentence types, Combining sentences
What kids do
“A sentence tells a whole idea. Read each group of words. Circle Sentence or Not a sentence.”
Printed on the sheet:
- The cat sleeps on my bed.
- Under the big tree.
- We ate pancakes for breakfast.
- Jumped over the puddle.
- My friend and I.
- The bus is late today.
- A very tall giraffe.
- Mom sings in the car.
Teacher tip
Read each word group aloud with a question: “Who or what? Doing what?” If one is missing, it is a fragment.
How to use it
- Build a sentence on the board with word cards before the sheet.
- Have kids clap once for the naming part and once for the telling part.
- Read the directions aloud so the sheet is about writing, not decoding the directions.
Watch for
Kids who think a long sentence must be a run-on. Length is not the problem; missing joins are.
Talk about it
- Which sentence sounded better after you changed it?
- Where else do writers use this skill?
Take it further
Have kids find and fix one sentence in their own writing journal.
US Letter, prints well in black and white. Free for home and classroom use: print as many copies as you need.
More sentence building worksheets
Grades 2–3
Join Sentences with And, But or So
Six pairs of short sentences to join with and, but or so, writing each compound sentence with a comma.
Grades K–1
Silly Sentence Mix and Match
Kids build sentences from a who, a does-what and a where box, draw the silliest one and write two.
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