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This Reading Mama

Writing Sentences: A Roll and Write Activity

By thisreadingmama 19 Comments

Teaching kids about writing sentences with all the parts of speech can be a bit boring and dry. I vividly remember diagramming sentences as a child and wishing I was doing anything but that!

But at the same time, teaching sentence structure and the parts of speech is important for kids to understand. That’s why I created Roll and Sentence and Roll a Silly Sentence, which we explored when my son was in the 1st grade.

*This post contains affiliate links.

Writing Longer Sentences a roll-and-write Activity- This Reading Mama

This year, we explored writing longer sentences including Who? Did What? When? and Where? parts with the same rolling cubes. It was just as much fun and explored the parts of a sentence and writing sentences in an interactive way. {You can download the FREE 15-pg. printable pack at the end of this post.}

 

Rolling and Writing Sentences

All you need for this activity are these rolling cubes, the sentence cards (which I printed on card stock), a pencil, and paper for the child to record the sentences.

Once the cards have been cut out and inserted into each cube, the child rolls the cubes and creates a sentence with them. Because there is a wide range of cards, many of the sentences will end up being silly…an added bonus for reluctant writers!

rolling and making sentences with cubes

Note: Not all the sentences will go in the same order. For example, the Where? or When? cube may make more sense at the front of the sentence instead of at the end. We made this discovery as we spoke each sentence aloud. I’d ask, “Is that how we say it?” If it wasn’t, we rearranged the cubes until it sounded like how we’d say it. (This lead to a great conversation about the use of commas, too!)

 

writing sentences after rolling cubes

After arranging the cubes to form a sentence, he got out his Writer’s Notebook (using the rough draft section) and recorded the sentences, remembering to use capital letters and punctuation. On the free download, there’s an extra sheet recording sheet I’ve included that can be slipped into a plastic sleeve protector to re-use with dry erase markers. We didn’t use it, but you certainly can.

 

More Ideas for Writing Sentences

adapting the writing sentences activity without cubes

    • Don’t have the cubes at home? Simply print off, cut out, and place the parts of the sentences in piles, like you see in the image above. Flip over the top card, one at a time, and create sentences.
    • Roll a Simple Sentences
    • Roll a Silly Sentence
    • Teaching Kids How to Write Sentences using “magic lines” (great for beginning writers!)

 

Enjoy teaching!
~Becky

 

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Filed Under: Teaching Writing Tagged With: WK

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Comments

  1. Anna@The Measured Mom says

    June 22, 2014 at 7:28 am

    Love, love, LOVE, Becky! Here’s an “I wish I thought of that” post 🙂 Such a fabulous alternative to writing the sentences correctly in language workbooks (Snore!). Sharing on Facebook later today.

    Reply
    • thisreadingmama says

      June 22, 2014 at 7:36 am

      Thank you, Anna!

      Reply
  2. Shonda says

    June 22, 2014 at 9:20 am

    I truly will enjoy teaching writing using your ideas!

    Reply
    • thisreadingmama says

      June 22, 2014 at 2:30 pm

      Aw, I’m so glad that my ideas have helped make writing more fun in your home!

      Reply
  3. Laura says

    June 22, 2014 at 9:20 pm

    This is so great. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • thisreadingmama says

      June 22, 2014 at 9:20 pm

      You’re very welcome!

      Reply
  4. Annette says

    June 26, 2014 at 6:05 pm

    thanks so much – will probably use some of this with my “kids” this summer!

    Reply
  5. Wendy says

    June 29, 2014 at 3:42 pm

    Where did you get the dice? Great idea!

    Reply
    • thisreadingmama says

      July 1, 2014 at 6:22 am

      They are photo stacking blocks and I bought them on amazon. The link is in the post, too. 😉

      Reply
  6. youclevermonkey says

    November 29, 2014 at 11:35 pm

    This looks like such a fun way to write longer more interesting sentences. Pinned 🙂

    Reply
    • thisreadingmama says

      November 30, 2014 at 6:58 am

      Thanks! My son enjoys it.

      Reply
  7. Nancy Barth says

    November 14, 2015 at 2:39 pm

    I didn’t buy these cubes the first time I saw one of your posts about them, but now I’m getting a set. I think my grandson will enjoy using these while he is visiting Thanksgiving week.

    Reply
  8. Renee says

    August 4, 2016 at 10:27 pm

    I can’t download anything. Maybe it’s because I’m on my phone instead of a computer.?Help!

    Renee

    Reply
    • thisreadingmama says

      August 5, 2016 at 2:41 pm

      Strange. My iPhone downloads things. Try again on your laptop or home computer and make sure you’re opening with the updated version of Adobe Reader. 🙂

      Reply
  9. Jayla Mohr says

    May 17, 2018 at 8:06 am

    This looks so fun, but I don’t see the link to download it. (I’ve also not drank an entire pot of coffee yet, so perhaps I’m just not seeing it!) Could you please direct me to it?

    Reply
    • thisreadingmama says

      May 17, 2018 at 8:31 am

      That’s because I updated the post before I’d had my coffee. 😉 The download link is there now.

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Sentence Writing Activity | Free Homeschool Deals © says:
    July 7, 2014 at 5:59 am

    […] fun! She explored writing longer sentences including Who? Did What? When? and Where? parts with rolling cubes that you can make and a fun activity. It was just as much fun and explored the parts […]

    Reply
  2. Best FREE Printables of 2014 {After School Linky} - Boy Mama Teacher Mama says:
    January 5, 2015 at 11:02 am

    […] Writing Sentences: Read and Roll Game from This Reading Mama […]

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  3. Word Games for Little Readers - Simple & Fun says:
    January 14, 2016 at 7:00 am

    […] Roll & Write Activity from This Reading Mama […]

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Hi! I’m Becky, a homeschooling mama with 4 blessings who keep me on my toes {and knees}. Before homeschooling, I was a classroom teacher (M.Ed.) and reading tutor. Read more about me here.

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