The Sentence Builder
The Sentence Builder is a laminated, interactive chart (33″ X 22″) with color-coded manipulative “Parts of Speech” and “Secret Formula” cards to demonstrate many strategies and skills for sophisticated sentence writing. The Sentence Builder Cards include the parts of speech (adjectives, nouns and verbs), modifiers (how, why, where, and when), Terrific Transitions (transition words to connect sentences or signal words to cue the reader that a new sentence or paragraph is beginning), and Secret Formula Cards as an organizational structure to construct sentences for informational and narrative writing. This tool may be used to build elaborate, well-developed topic sentences/thesis statements or story openings. Also, the Sentence Builder is a supportive visual for the complex task of sentence revising, which includes adding phrases/text, deleting phrases/text, moving phrases/text, and replacing simple words with higher-level, precise vocabulary. Another use for this tool is to identify and move the modifiers (green cards: why, how, when, and where) in a sentence.