FUN Sentence Writing {Roll & Write with Spelling Words}

Using spelling words for sentence writing has probably been around since the dinosaurs were doing schoolwork. 🙂 But the majority of kids I’ve taught over the years, including my own, haven’t been particularly overjoyed by the activity.

So, what’s a teacher to do? Give up on asking kids to write their spelling words in sentences altogether? I think not. Helping kids understand the structures and conventions of sentence writing is important for writers! But what if we spiced up sentence writing just a bit and made it {dare I use the word} fun? Yes, fun. That’s exactly what we did with this roll and write sentence writing activity. My kids absolutely LOVED this! Not one complaint the entire time we did it.

These printable dice are free to download. You can find the download link towards the end of this post. Just look for the teal, oval button.

*This post contains affiliate links.

 

FUN Sentence Writing Activity: Roll and Write

So, how exactly is sentence writing made fun? It’s simple. To prepare, just type in the words your student needs on the editable word die. {For best results, open in the latest version of Adobe Reader.} We used sight words, but you could also use phonics words. I highly recommend printing the die onto cardstock paper to make it durable.

The second die tells kids what KIND of sentence to write. The six options are: write a sentence with a question mark, exclamation mark, period, write a silly sentence, write a long sentence, and write a short sentence. Just print that die off and assemble.

 

To play, kids roll the word die, then roll the kind of sentence die. They then form a sentence using the spelling word they rolled and the kind of sentence they rolled. I highly recommend practicing with a couple of words and sentences before kids do this on their own.

 

When kids roll the two dice, they can write the sight word on their recording sheet {slipped into a plastic sleeve protector} and circle the kind of sentence it should be. Then, they can write their sentence using the sight word and kind of sentence.

Note: I required correct spellings for words from their portable word walls, but encouraged them to sound out words, like crocodile, so they’d be more independent with their spellings {and not wait on me to spell every word for them}.

 

There are three kinds of recording sheets on the download. Ones for younger kids, with the dotted lines for more guidance, the one that my 1st grader used with just simple lines {seen above}, and one that’s more in chart form for even older kids, like 2nd grade and up. Of course, kids could just record their sentences on a pieces of notebook paper, too!

 

My Favorite Things about FUN Sentence Writing

• Kids are required to think in flexible ways about forming sentences. Instead of just writing the same kinds of sentences, the second die gets them to shake up their thinking a bit.
• The same word can be used for more than one sentence. Let’s say my son rolled more and the, “Tell me,” die the first time. He could roll more again and the, “Ask a ?” die on another turn and end up with a completely different sentence.
• Kids are practicing the conventions of writing sentences, such as capital letters, spacing, and punctuation. These are the same things we want them looking for when they edit their writing.
• Kids are asked to stretch their sentences. For the, “Write a LONG Sentence” die, I prodded them to add more to their sentence by asking leading questions. Teaching kids to add and or because onto their smaller sentences are just two simple ways that kids can stretch their sentences longer.

 

Do you have Photo Stacking Blocks or the Differentiated Instruction Cubes? The download also includes cube inserts for the kinds of sentences. You can find the word inserts in my Sight Word Cubes post.

 

More Learning Ideas You May Enjoy:

• Roll & Write a Simple Sentence
• Roll & Write Silly Sentences
• Roll & Write Longer Sentences
• Roll & Write Sentences with Adjectives
• Learning Activities with Learning Cubes

 

 

~Becky