Sentence structure is one of those things the Hermiones amongst us just... know. They can see if a sentence looks odd and can go in and fix it without really being taught much about the actual structure. If you have a Hermione as a child, congratulations! Their sentences will probably be structured correctly and they won't need much input from you. However, there's a reason why there's only one Hermione in Hogwarts and, as I said before, an education system based on what the nerdiest can automatically do isn't a very fair one.
If you know how to help your child reach the next level of sentence building, you can help them not only with their writing, but their communication in general. But first, some definitions:
What is a sentence?
In short, a sentence is a complete thought which contains a subject and a verb. Take this:
Tiddles pounced.
Tiddles is the subject and is the subject of the sentence, which means the sentence is about her and what she's doing. In this case, she pounced, which is our verb. More detail can be added to the sentence by adding an object:
Tiddles pounced on the mouse.
The mouse is being acted on and so is the object of the subject's action.
Look at this as another example:
Charlotte span a beautiful web.
Charlotte is the subject, who always does the action in active sentences. However! Look at this:
The beautiful web was span by Charlotte.
The subject is being acted upon now, because the sentence has changed from active (the subject is acting) to passive (the subject is being acted on). The is the voice of a sentence and is firmly in Year 5 territory. I highlight this because it just goes to show how much is actually in a sentence when you're writing.
Types of sentences
In Year 2, we look at trying to categorise sentences into three different types: statement, question and exclamation.
Statement
Statements are like fact sentences. They impart knowledge to the reader like this:
The Earth is round.
I went to the park.
Nathan had a spaghetti toastie for lunch.
They do not need to be true though! These are also statements:
Liam Hemsworth is the best looking Hemsworth.
Tea is an awful drink.
Donald Trump is an effective leader in a crisis.
These blatant falsehoods are still statements. You can tell a statement by the fact it has a full stop at the end of the sentence.
Question
Question sentences ask the reader or the other characters in the story a question:
How do you know that the Earth is round?
Why did you go to the park?
Did Nathan finish his spaghetti toastie?
We teach children to use question words at the beginning of their sentences:
A way to teach your child which question word to use is to have them on flash cards and then add them to the front of a sentence. Song lyrics are good for this! You could use:
________ let the dogs out?
And see which word fits best. Make sure, when you're writing the sentence questions, that you use different question words in your head. Some other examples could be:
____ is love? Baby don't hurt me, don't hurt me, no more
____ you call my name it's like a little prayer
_____ high does a sycamore grow?
Exclamation
I tell my children that exclamation sentences are meant to be shouted. It's not a statement of fact and it's not a question, you're shouting something to the reader:
What a loud noise!
How lovely the roses are!
Exclamation sentences begin with what or how and end with an exclamation mark. You may notice that both of these are question words. Using how or what as an exclamation word reverses the verb in the sentence:
How lovely the roses are!
As opposed to a question sentence, which is:
How lovely are the roses?
These are tricky to throw into writing, since they're a bit old fashioned. A good way to do this is, at the end of a recount, to write a summary exclamation sentence about the whole thing:
We went to the park.... What a lovely time we had!
If you know how to help your child reach the next level of sentence building, you can help them not only with their writing, but their communication in general. But first, some definitions:
What is a sentence?
In short, a sentence is a complete thought which contains a subject and a verb. Take this:
Tiddles pounced.
Tiddles is the subject and is the subject of the sentence, which means the sentence is about her and what she's doing. In this case, she pounced, which is our verb. More detail can be added to the sentence by adding an object:
Tiddles pounced on the mouse.
The mouse is being acted on and so is the object of the subject's action.
Look at this as another example:
Charlotte span a beautiful web.
Charlotte is the subject, who always does the action in active sentences. However! Look at this:
The beautiful web was span by Charlotte.
The subject is being acted upon now, because the sentence has changed from active (the subject is acting) to passive (the subject is being acted on). The is the voice of a sentence and is firmly in Year 5 territory. I highlight this because it just goes to show how much is actually in a sentence when you're writing.
Types of sentences
In Year 2, we look at trying to categorise sentences into three different types: statement, question and exclamation.
Statement
Statements are like fact sentences. They impart knowledge to the reader like this:
The Earth is round.
I went to the park.
Nathan had a spaghetti toastie for lunch.
They do not need to be true though! These are also statements:
Liam Hemsworth is the best looking Hemsworth.
Tea is an awful drink.
Donald Trump is an effective leader in a crisis.
These blatant falsehoods are still statements. You can tell a statement by the fact it has a full stop at the end of the sentence.
Question
Question sentences ask the reader or the other characters in the story a question:
How do you know that the Earth is round?
Why did you go to the park?
Did Nathan finish his spaghetti toastie?
We teach children to use question words at the beginning of their sentences:
A way to teach your child which question word to use is to have them on flash cards and then add them to the front of a sentence. Song lyrics are good for this! You could use:
________ let the dogs out?
And see which word fits best. Make sure, when you're writing the sentence questions, that you use different question words in your head. Some other examples could be:
____ is love? Baby don't hurt me, don't hurt me, no more
____ you call my name it's like a little prayer
_____ high does a sycamore grow?
Exclamation
I tell my children that exclamation sentences are meant to be shouted. It's not a statement of fact and it's not a question, you're shouting something to the reader:
What a loud noise!
How lovely the roses are!
Exclamation sentences begin with what or how and end with an exclamation mark. You may notice that both of these are question words. Using how or what as an exclamation word reverses the verb in the sentence:
How lovely the roses are!
As opposed to a question sentence, which is:
How lovely are the roses?
These are tricky to throw into writing, since they're a bit old fashioned. A good way to do this is, at the end of a recount, to write a summary exclamation sentence about the whole thing:
We went to the park.... What a lovely time we had!
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