Saturday

Mentor Sentences with Answers for Grades 3, 4 and 5

Do you use Mentor Sentences with your students?  They are a great way to cover Common Core Language Standards as well as what makes writing effective, as opposed to the traditional sentence correction method used in worksheets that ask students to find the errors.  I find that providing models helps students elevate the quality of their writing in context.   If you're new to the idea of incorporating grammar practice into the craft of writing new, creative sentences you can read my introduction to Mentor Sentences here

 


Another great feature of Mentor Sentences is the time spent on spiral review.  Those of us who use Mentor Sentences during our English Language Arts block encourage students to notice what works well in sentences they read.  Of course, an invitation to notice language is an open-ended activity; no one answer key will fit all possible responses.  Facilitating a variety of responses during daily class discussions will make the real reason for grammar instruction (learning to communicate more effectively) come to fruition. 

 

However, after a few years of use, (and the RETELL course emphasizing the importance of sentence frames for English Language Learners) I realized that I was helping my students with similar specific terminology in certain sentences.  Some students benefit from multiple choice options to initiate a discussion.  Because I teach fourth grade, I went to the grade level below to see what concepts they have already learned.  This helped me create a list of terms that I could draw from that they were more likely to be familiar with.  This helped cut down on students writing “I notice the sentence has a period” for every paper every week!  So today I wanted to provide you with the answer options for Mentor Sentences at each grade level:

 

Third Graders Might Notice These Concepts in Their Mentor Sentences

Some third graders will recall these common core standards concepts from second grade:

1.      I know that _______ is a collective noun.

2.      I know that _______ is a plural noun.

3.      I know that _______ is a reflexive pronoun.

4.      I know that _______ is an irregular past tense verb.

5.      I know that _______ is an adjective that describes _______ .

6.      I know that _______ is an adverb that describes _______ .

7.      I notice this is a simple (or compound) sentence.

8.      I notice that _______ is capitalized because it is a holiday (or product name, or geographic name).

9.      I notice that the apostrophe is used in the contraction (or possessive) _______ .

These sentence frames set a high standard of analysis for your third graders.  For example, some students will recognize a pronoun but not recall the term “reflexive pronoun.”  Some students will write “I notice the sentence starts with a capital end ends with a period” because it’s a safe, correct (if terribly generic) answer.  Obviously as the year goes on, you will want to encourage them to branch out, and these frames will help scaffold that process.

 

Fourth Graders Might Notice These Concepts in Their Mentor Sentences

Some fourth graders will recall these common core standards concepts from third grade:

1.      I know _______ is a noun (or pronoun, verb, adjective, or adverb) because __________.

2.      I know _______ is an irregular plural noun.

3.      I know _______ is an abstract noun.

4.      I know _______ is an irregular verb.

5.      I know _______ is a simple tense verb.

6.      I know _______ is a pronoun referring to _______ .

7.      I know _______ is a comparative (or superlative adjective).

8.      I know _______ is a comparative (or superlative adverb).

9.      I know _______ is a coordinating (or subordinating) conjunction.

10.  I notice this is a simple (or compound, or complex) sentence.

11.  I notice _______ is capitalized because it’s a title.

12.  I notice a comma is used because it’s in an address.

13.  I notice the comma and quotation marks are used because there is dialogue.

14.  I know _______ is a possessive noun (or adjective).

15.  I know _______ is a base word and _______ is the suffix. 

Again, these set a high standard at the start of the year for your fourth graders.  As they progress through the year, they should also begin to notice concepts covered in the fourth-grade standards you’ve covered early on.  On the other hand, you may find some fourth graders recognizing second grade standards.  They may need support or reteaching of some third-grade standards. 

 

Fifth Graders Might Notice These Concepts in Their Mentor Sentences

Some fifth-grade students will recall these standards from fourth grade:

1.      I know that _______ is a relative pronoun (or adverb).

2.      I know that _______ is a progressive tense verb.

3.      I know that _______ is a modal auxiliary.

4.      I notice that _______ are correctly ordered adjectives.

5.      I know that _______ is a prepositional phrase.

6.      I notice this is a complete sentence with no fragments or run-ons.

7.      I notice _______ is the correct homograph because it means _______ .

8.      I notice _______ is capitalized because _______ .

9.      I notice commas and quotation marks are used to mark direct speech (or quotations from a text).

10.  I notice a comma is used before _______ because it is a coordinating conjunction in a compound sentence.

11.  I know _______ is a Greek affix (or root).

12.  I know _______ is a Latin affix (or root).

13.  I know _______ is figurative language. 

Here are the fifth-grade standards that your fifth graders should start recognizing concepts from after you’ve taught them:

1.      I know that _______ is a conjunction (or preposition, or interjection) because _______ .

2.      I know _______ is a perfect tense verb.

3.      I know that _______ is a verb that conveys this time (or sequence, state, or condition) _______ .

4.      I notice these verbs _______ and _______ show an appropriate shift in verb tense.

5.      I notice _______ are correlative conjunctions.

6.      I notice _______ are used to separate items in a series.

7.      I notice _______ is an introductory element separated from the rest of the sentence with a comma. 

8.      I notice _______ is a tag that is set off from the rest of the sentence by a comma.

9.      I notice _______ is underlined (or has quotation marks or italics) because it is a title of a work.

10.  I notice I notice _______ is a Greek affix (or root) that means _______ .

11.  I notice _______ is a Latin affix (or root) that means _______ .

12.  I notice _______ is figurative language that means _______ . 

Want to try Mentor Sentence Worksheets?

 

I hope these sentence frames help you and your students elevate the level of discussion about their Mentor Sentences.  If you are looking for Mentor Sentence Examples you can pick up some free mentor sentence samples, browse isolated grammar concepts for grades 3, 4 and 5 or download complete bundles here



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5 comments :

  1. This is a great site for both students and instructors! As an assignment assistance specialist, I strongly suggest it for students in schools K-12. It gives excellent sentence samples with explanations to assist students in better understanding material and improving their writing abilities.

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  2. Great resource for mentor sentences! As a teacher, it's always helpful to have a variety of sentences to use as examples for my students. The fact that this resource includes sentences for grades 3, 4, and 5 makes it even more valuable.

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  3. In simpler terms, mentor sentences for grades are sentences that teachers use to teach about sentences! It's a bit like having a friend (the mentor sentence) show you how to put words together correctly

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  4. Grateful for the mentor sentences shaping my writing journey! Each sentence, a beacon of wisdom. Just as sentences mold language, our prestashop development services sculpts e-commerce excellence. Crafting digital stories with precision and finesse. Join us for a transformative journey into the world of online success.

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  5. It's a great way to get better at writing and understanding language! If you have any questions about the sentences or need help, just ask your teacher. They're there to help you learn and grow as a writer

    ReplyDelete

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