Write Silly Sentences to Improve Capitalization, Spelling and Punctuation

Silly Sentences has been a winner game EVERY TIME with my students! They love being able to choose words. They like how nonsensical the sentences get.

All the while, students are practicing and improving their ability to write complete sentences with correct capitalization, spelling and punctuation.

Common Core State Standards:

It also can address the following Common Core Standards: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.K.1, L.K.1.F, L.K.2, L.K.2.A, L.K.2.B, L.1.1, L.1.2, L.1.2.B, L.2.2, L.3.1, L.3.1.F, L.3.1.D, L.3.2, L.4.1, L.4.1.F, L.4.1.G, L.4.2, L.4.2.A, L.5.1, L.5.2, RF.K.1.C, RF.1.1.A

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Magnetic Spinners

And this game makes buying your magnetic spinners* so worth it!

(If you haven’t read my full post on the winner spinner you won’t want to miss it! It gives you a long list of game ideas that are so easy to run and super fun for the kids. Check out the full post here.)

The magnetic spinners are truly a big hit and highly motivating. I haven’t found a child yet, that didn’t want to spin the spinner. As soon as they see the spinner, they want to play. That’s to say, they “get” to write!

Paper Circles

If you’re unable to purchase the magnetic spinners, simply draw the circles on paper. Have your student or child close their eyes and point to two words.

Two Circles

For silly sentences, I draw two circles on the white board, chalk board (or smart board). I divide the circles into 8 sections.

This can be played in one of two ways.

16 Random Words

First, both circles can be filled with ANY (appropriate) words that the students give. I call on students one at a time to tell me a word. Then, I write it into one of the sections. I continue until all sections are filled and we play! (detailed directions below).

8 Vocabulary or Spelling Words + 8 Random Words

Second, and most often, we fill the first circle with vocabulary or words with a spelling pattern that we’re working on. This is where the ideas are ENDLESS.

You can choose words that your kids need to practice and know. You can use Math, Science, History, Language vocabulary. ANY words. Doesn’t matter. The game is fun EVERY TIME because the second circle is filled with ANY (appropriate) words that the kids give.

So Many Choices!

Contractions

For example, if you were working on contractions. You’re circles might look like this:

Irregular Past Verbs

Here we were working on irregular past verbs (left circle). The right circle was filled with words the students gave, scorpion, farted, tired and done. Using my own discretion, I allowed the word farted. Needless to say, the kids laughed A LOT and had fun writing!

Harry Potter Characters

During our Harry Potter-Fantasy writing camp, we used Harry Potter characters in the left circle and chosen words in the right. I wish you could have heard the laughs. I was enjoying the campers so much that I didn’t take any pictures (sigh). It’s truly a winner game!

Contractions + Flowers

Here we were practicing contractions and learning about flowers. So we combined the two.

Lemurs + Super Heroes

For the sentence below we had kinds of lemurs on the left and super heroes on the right.

HOW TO PLAY!

Small Groups–(up to 8)

For smaller groups (up to 8) you can divide the board into 4 sections. A pair is assigned to each section.

Large Groups–(8+)

For larger groups, or if you don’t have a large whiteboard, divide the group into pairs.

Materials

Give each pair a small white board, dry erase marker and a sock to serve as an eraser. You can purchase a class pack on Amazon*.

One child spins. Then, one partner in each pair takes a turn writing a a sentence that uses both words. The sentence can be normal or super silly!

Checking Their Work!

In order to earn a point, the sentence has to have a capital letter, spacing, correct spelling and a period at the end.

Once writers have completed their sentence, they don’t say anything. They just hold up their white board.

I look at it.

Need a Thumbs Up!

If there is one mistake, I hold up 1 finger. If there are 2 mistakes, 2 fingers, 3 mistakes, 3 fingers, 4 mistakes, 4 fingers. When students don’t have any mistakes, students get a thumbs up and tally a point.

Students who have a mistake continue to correct the sentence until they get a thumbs up.

Lastly, campers who get a thumbs up right away can keep writing new sentences, earning more points, until each camper has finished their one sentence.