Kindergarten Fall — Print Concepts, Letter Formation, and Oral Language for Writing
Lesson 5 25 min eng.gK.f.lesson_05.sentence_or_not

Sentence or not? — the sentence detective game

Skills targeted
Objectives
  • Students can classify a spoken utterance as a 'complete sentence' or 'not a sentence' (fragment).
  • Students can name two parts of every sentence: 'who or what' (subject) and 'what they do' (predicate) — in kindergarten-friendly terms: 'the something' and 'what it does'.
Vocabulary
sentencecomplete thoughtfragment (kid-friendly: 'piece')who or what (subject)what it does (predicate)

Lesson plan

Warm-up

3 min

Teacher reads cards aloud; class chants 'SENTENCE!' or 'PIECE!' on each one.

Teacher moves
  • Mix sentence ('The dog runs.') with fragments ('the big...', 'running fast', 'cookie')
  • Pause after a tricky one to think aloud
Media
M-K-F-GR-05-B Illustration Physical / non-image

Full-page anchor chart titled 'Sentence or Piece?' Top half: green-bordered box labeled SENTENCE — contains 'The cat sat.' with WHO (cat) circled blue and DOES (sat) circled red. Bottom half: red-bordered box labeled PIECE — contains 'On the mat' with a big '?' where the missing part should be. Footer: 'A sentence has a WHO and a DOES.'

Direct instruction

8 min

A SENTENCE has two parts. Part one: WHO or WHAT — the SOMETHING. Part two: WHAT IT DOES — the action. 'The dog runs.' WHO? The dog. WHAT DOES IT DO? Runs. Both parts? YES. So it's a sentence! Now: 'big red dog.' WHO? big red dog. WHAT DOES IT DO? ... (silence). Missing! So it's a PIECE, not a sentence.

Key examples
  • Even two words can be a sentence if both parts are there.
    model WHO: cats. WHAT THEY DO: meow. Both parts! SENTENCE.
    prompt 'Cats meow.'
  • Sounds long but it's a PIECE. We need an action.
    model WHO: the big yellow bus. WHAT IT DOES: missing.
    prompt 'The big yellow bus.'
  • Also a PIECE.
    model WHO: missing. WHAT: running.
    prompt 'Running.'
Checks for understanding
  • Thumbs up sentence, thumbs down piece: 'Birds fly.' (up)
  • 'In the morning.' (down)
  • 'I am happy.' (up)
Media
M-K-F-GR-05-A Animation Physical / non-image

30-second animation. A magnifying-glass cartoon detective character examines four cards in turn: 'The dog runs.' (green check appears, labels WHO and DOES highlight); 'Big red dog.' (red X, the DOES part is shown as a question mark); 'Running.' (red X, the WHO is a question mark); 'I see.' (green check). Cheerful music. Kindergarten-readable text (28-pt sans-serif).

Guided practice

10 min
Tasks
  • Hula-hoop sort: each child takes a card, decides if it's a sentence or a piece, places it in the right hoop.
    scaffold Teacher reads each card aloud first if needed; partner rehearsal.
  • Fix the piece: turn 'big red dog' into a sentence by adding an action.
    scaffold Sentence frame on chart: 'The ___ ___s.'
  • Take any two of your hula-hoop SENTENCE cards — read them aloud to a partner.
    scaffold Whisper-rehearsal first, then to partner.

Formative assessment

2 min
Exit ticket
  • Teacher reads three utterances; child circles 'SENTENCE' or 'PIECE' for each: (1) 'My mom is nice.' (2) 'In the box.' (3) 'Frogs hop.'
scoring 3/3 = mastery; 2/3 = practicing; 0-1 = reteach 1:1 next day.

Closure

Moves
  • Whole class chant: 'A sentence has a WHO and a DOES.'
  • Preview: 'Tomorrow we'll make our OWN sentences out loud, and Mrs. ___ will write them down.'

Homework

5 min
Tasks
  • At dinner, ask a family member to say a sentence about your day. Listen for the WHO and the DOES.

Exercises in this lesson

eng.gK.f.ex_09
For each card, decide: SENTENCE or PIECE? Place in the right hoop.
 sort · diff 2
eng.gK.f.ex_10
Make this PIECE into a SENTENCE: 'Big red bus.'
 transform · diff 4

Differentiation

Scaffolds
  • Reduce to single-word vs. full-sentence binary
  • Pre-sorted demo cards
  • Picture support for the WHO part
Extensions
  • Identify a sentence in a class read-aloud and explain how you know
  • Try a complex sentence: 'When the dog ran, the cat hid.' — is this one sentence? (yes, with two parts joined)
  • Find a fragment in a comic strip
English Learners
  • Bilingual sentence-parts chart
  • Allow native-language exemplification
  • Repeated exposure to high-frequency sentence frames
Ieps 504s
  • Use only two cards at a time
  • Provide pre-decided cards if executive function is a barrier
  • Hand-over-hand for placement

Teacher notes

Avoid the words 'subject' and 'predicate' in lesson delivery — they don't add explanatory power in kindergarten. The 'WHO' and 'DOES' framing transfers cleanly to first grade when 'subject' and 'verb' are formally introduced. Watch for ELs whose home language is pro-drop (Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Tamil) — they may produce 'Runs' as a complete utterance because the subject is implicit. Honor this as a cross-linguistic fact AND teach the English convention that a written sentence needs a stated subject.