As teachers, one of our goals is to help our students develop strong writing skills. One important aspect of writing is being able to accurately choose the subject of a sentence. This may seem like a small detail, but it can greatly improve the clarity and effectiveness of our students’ writing. Here are some activities to teach students how to complete a sentence with the best subject.

1. Noun Sort

In this activity, give your students a list of nouns and have them sort them into categories such as people, places, and things. Then, have them use those nouns to complete sentences. For example, if the noun is “dog”, the sentence could be “The dog ran across the field.”

2. Picture Prompt

Provide your students with a picture and have them write a sentence describing what is happening in the picture. Encourage them to choose the best subject that accurately reflects the action in the image. This can help them develop skills in observation and interpretation.

3. Subject-Verb Agreement Matching

Give your students a list of sentences that are missing a subject. Then, give them a list of potential subjects and have them match the subject with the correct verb. For example, if the sentence is “_____ the dog barks loudly.”, the correct subject would be “Tommy”. This activity not only helps with subject selection but also reinforces the importance of subject-verb agreement.

4. Who, What, Where, When, Why

Provide your students with prompts starting with “who”, “what”, “where”, “when”, and “why”. Then, have them write sentences using those prompts. This helps students think about different types of subjects and what may be the best fit for each type of prompt.

5. Multiple Choice Sentence Completion

Give your students a sentence with a blank space where the subject should be. Then, provide them with several options for the subject and have them choose the best one to complete the sentence. This activity helps students learn to evaluate multiple options and choose the best one.

In conclusion, developing strong writing skills takes practice and patience. These activities can help your students become more familiar with choosing the best subject for their sentences. By encouraging your students to pay attention to this detail, you can help them become more confident and effective writers.