Sentence Scramblers

From FreeReading

Grade: 1, 2

Group Size: Individual, Pair, Small Group

Length: 15 minutes

Materials: Ten sentence strips, ten envelopes, ten index cards, a sheet of paper to record results (you can download a template below), an electronic timer with minutes and seconds, scissors, a pen or pencil

Goal: Given scrambled sentences, students will be able to make complete sentences.

Items: Oral fluency, sentence structure, high frequency words, word recognition

What to do

Write a complete sentence on each index card and number the cards 1 to 10. Number the envelopes as well. Then rewrite the 10 sentences on the sentence strips.
Cut apart the first sentence strip, making cuts between words. Do not cut the index cards. Put the scrambled words in the appropriately numbered envelope.
When students are ready to begin, explain that they are going to be given mixed-up words in an envelope and that they should try to make them into a sentence in one minute. Give them the first envelope and start the timer. If they finish before a minute is up, tell them to stop the timer.
Once the timer has stopped, have your students read the sentence. Students should record how long it took to reassemble the sentence and whether the result was correct.
Repeat steps 3 and 4 for the remaining nine sentences. Students should try to beat their past times.