Simple and Effective Literacy Activities: SENTENCE STRIPS

This post is part of a series of FREE Simple and Effective Literacy Activities. To read more about my personal philosophy on how to help teach a love of all things literacy, head here.

WHAT ARE SENTENCE STRIPS?

Sentence Strips are simply sentences, phrases, and words of already-known text that can be cut into smaller chunks, mixed up and then manipulated back into the correct order.

WHY ARE SENTENCE STRIPS EFFECTIVE AS A LITERACY ACTIVITY?

Sentence Strips are an effective LITERACY ACTIVITY because they allow a student to reverse engineer text he or she already knows. This process helps bring memorization of text to a higher level of understanding by breaking down each phrase or sentence into manageable chunks that can be transformed from memorization to an actual phonetic understanding.

WHO CAN BENEFIT FROM SENTENCE STRIPS?

Early and emergent readers can benefit the most from this activity, but it can also help readers of various levels increase fluency and comprehension.

HOW SIMPLE IS IT TO MAKE SENTENCE STRIPS?

Sentence Strips are very easy to make especially if you just want to get started with the three sets found in the FREE PRINTABLE.

In the FREE PRINTABLE, you’ll find these clear directions along with three sets of Sentence Strips to print and cut out. Super simple! The free printable includes three sets:

There Are Seven Days (Song)
Apples, Peaches, Pears and Plums Months of the Year Chant
Whose Fine Face (Money Song)

Other suggestions for this activity would include any song, poem, chant or book your student has memorized such as:

The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See
Other Eric Carle books
One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish
The Foot Book
Green Eggs and Ham (though this would be lengthy, it would be fun and very effective!
Other Dr. Seuss books
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
Goodnight Moon
Goodnight Gorilla
Lllama, Lllama
The Pout Pout Fish
I Love You Like No Otter
Happy Birthday Song
What’s the Weather Like Today
Five Little Hearts
Here is The Beehive
It’s Raining, It’s Pouring
I’m a Little Teapot
Five Little Monkeys
The Itsy Bitsy Spider
Old MacDonald Had a Farm
Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes
Hickory Dickory Dock
Have You Ever Seen a Lassie
Bingo the Dog
Frere Jacques
Other Nursery Rhymes
Tom, Tom Turkey
The Farmer in the Del
Jingle Bells
Frosty the Snowman
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Other Christmas Carols
Oh Rainbow, Oh Rainbow- The Color Song
The Wheels on the Bus
The Ants Go Marching
Baby Bumblebee
Baby Shark
Baby Beluga
Down By the Bay
If You’re Happy and You Know It
Jesus Loves Me

CAN SENTENCE STRIPS BE MODIFIED?

Of course! Any length of book, poem, song, etc can be turned into Sentence Strips. And, if you have space for a wall pocket chart, going BIG is always a great way to modify this activity as well! Additionally, it is very easy to differentiate this activity for various levels by modifying how long or short you cut the strips. The longer the strip, the easier it is to put back into the correct order. And the shorter the strip, the more there is to manipulate and the more work it is. And, an extra effective modification is to start with longer strips and then, as a student grows more comfortable with the text, cutting the strips into smaller portions and having the student repeat the activity. This adds a new level of challenge.