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3rd grade · English Language Arts · Unit 8 of 13

Sentence Smarts

Kinds of sentences

What your child practices

Telling statements, questions, exclamations and commands apart, spotting incomplete sentences and joining ideas with so, but, or and because.

Arizona Academic Standards learning standard: 3.L.1 · complete sentences and kinds of sentences

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. A complete sentence tells who or what, and what they do.
  2. A statement tells, a question asks, an exclamation shows strong feeling and a command tells someone to do something.
  3. Join two ideas with and, but, or, so or because.

Example: Which is a complete sentence: “Our class at a farm.” or “Our class visited a farm.”? Both tell who: our class. Only one tells what they did: visited. Answer: Our class visited a farm.

Sentence Smarts in Arizona

In the Arizona Academic Standards, this is unit 8 of 13 in 3rd grade English Language Arts, after Word Pairs and before ABC Order & Dictionary.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Arizona Department of Education

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Which is NOT a complete sentence?

    • The puppy chewed on a bone.
    • The kettle whistled loudly.
    • Raced up the tree.

  2. Question 2

    What kind of sentence is this?

    The bus was a little late today.

    • Exclamation (shows strong feeling)
    • Question (asks something)
    • Statement (tells something)
    • Command (tells someone to do something)

  3. Question 3

    What kind of sentence is this?

    Close the door quietly.

    • Command (tells someone to do something)
    • Exclamation (shows strong feeling)
    • Question (asks something)
    • Statement (tells something)

  4. Question 4

    What kind of sentence is this?

    When does the movie start?

    • Exclamation (shows strong feeling)
    • Command (tells someone to do something)
    • Statement (tells something)
    • Question (asks something)

  5. Question 5

    Which is a complete sentence?

    • Knitted a warm scarf.
    • Grandma's warm scarf.
    • Grandma knitted a warm scarf.

  6. Question 6

    Which is NOT a complete sentence?

    • Our class at a farm.
    • A gentle rain fell all night.
    • The ducks swam across the pond.

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