I really love these sentence sticks. They’re so quick to create and easy to use!
If you’re new to my blog, each month I create a learning activity that can be done in only a few minutes – some take 60 seconds or less. This series of blog posts can be found here.
Depending on your learners’ writing skills this activity will probably not be quite so fast but it’s about the quickest way of writing a sentence possible.
What you’ll need
- Craft sticks (mine were 2cm wide, that’s a bit less than an inch!)
- Glue
- Printable: cut into strips
- Storage container
Simply glue a sentence strip to each craft stick and pop it into the storage container.
How to use
When your little ones have a spare few minutes they can
- Grab a sentence stick
- Read the sentence and word choices
- Write their sentence into a journal writing their chosen words in the blank spaces.
If the reading is too difficult they can still
- Copy the sentence as written
- Add any of the word choices even if they’re not sure what the words say
- Read their sentence with a more advanced student or adult
Specific teaching before use: for some sentences all four words can be used in either blank space, in others there are 2 suggestions for the first space and 2 suggestions for the second space, separated by a /. The children need to understand this before they attempt the activity. (You’ll notice in the picture above I don’t have a / between turtle and house, but don’t worry, I went back and fixed it in the download!)
Of course, the children can always choose their own words to add to the sentences!
Don’t want to write?
These sentence sticks are even faster for quick reading practice. Children can work in pairs either reading to each other or working out the sentences together. How many sentence variations can they come up with on their stick? What other words could they add to the blank spaces instead of using the given words? Can they make the sentence sillier… sadder…longer…?
Ready to download?
Click this link to download your FREE Writing Sticks.
If you’re looking for more sentence writing activities you can find 50 Teeny Tiny Books on my blog shop, Teachers Pay Teachers or Teacher’s Notebook.
What’s your favourite quick writing activity? I’d love to see your ideas in the comments!
Oh my goodness! Just found you. This is just what I need. THANK YOU!! I can’t wait to read more!
Welcome, Lisa! I hope you find lots of useful ideas here!
Lovely idea. Would love some more ideas.
Hi Kathy! I put out a new blog post every week but the easiest way to keep up with my posts is to subscribe to my email list. I send a newsletter once a month that details what my posts have been about. That way it’s easy to jump back to the blog for ideas that have particular interest to you. Glad you’re here!
Thank you for sharing so many great ideas! They will help make me a better teacher
You’re welcome, Lisa! Teaching is not easy and I’m glad this blog is helpful to you. I learn tons from other bloggers, too. And Pinterest… collecting ideas from there is like building a huge library of ideas for future use. Love the internet!
Hi I’m a mom of two. I really wish you had more worksheets Freebie
Hi Jacinda, I’m really glad you’re enjoying my downloads! Nearly all my posts have a free download attached. I’m glad you’ve signed up for my monthly updates as it’s the best way to keep up with new posts. Welcome!
Thank you so much for sharing these cool activities!
I’m glad they’re useful to you, Ruby!