1-on-1 Tutoring: Elementary School Sentence Building and Basic Grammar

The focus on this class is composing sentences. We will practice: sentence unscrambling, sentence imitating, sentence combining, and sentence expanding. By playing with sentences from selections like Charlotte’s Web and the Harry Potter series, children will learn to write their own sentences in more effective and interesting ways. At the same time, they improve their reading skills by discovering the story in the sentence. Children will have lots of practice composing sentences. One at a time. 

We will use model sentences from real writers like: 
Lois Lower, The Giver
Madeline L’Engle, A Wrinkle in Time
J.R.R. Tolkein, The Hobbit
E.B. White, Charlotte’s Web
and many more

The course uses literature as a writing school with a faculty of professional writers who virtually teach students to build better sentences.

Students will study these model sentences and then imitate the form using their own ideas. This will help them understand what makes a good sentence. Instead of the traditional method of dissecting sentences this course aims to engages children in learning how to build better sentences.

•	Basic sentence training – activities to understand subjects, predicates, and their roles in sentence building 
•	Broken sentences – exercises to identify, repair, and avoid fragments. Instead of the traditional method of dissecting         sentences his course aims to engages children in learning how to build better sentences.
•      Basic grammar techniques including parts of speech, sentence structure and punctuation will be introduced along with multiple paths to master them. 

The one-on-one nature of this class will allow us to spend more times on concepts a learner is struggling with and practice with the techniques they find most engaging. I have middle school lessons ready to go for the more advanced learner. A couple sections a week could work well for interested students. 

Here are the topics covered in the first four sections. These will be ongoing with repetition when needed. 

Week 1: Subjects and Predicates 
Week 2: Subjects and Predicates
Week 3: Fragments
Week 4: Fragments

Here are some example lessons:

                                                                          Putting Sentences Together
Using the following sentences from JK Rowling’s Harry Potter stories, match the subject with its predicate to make a sentence. Write each complete sentence.
Subject (topic)
1. Hagrid the giant 
2. Several witches in green robes 
3. He although in the dark 
4. Voldemort’s snake 
5. A team of Healers from St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries
Predicate (comment about topic)
A. remembered where the door into the hall was and groped his way toward it 
B. are examining him as we speak 
C. rose and came to rest across Voldemort shoulders with its eyes unblinking 
D. sat back down on the sofa that sagged under his weight 
E. were walking onto fields with broomsticks in their hands



Write an interesting predicate for each subject. Make your predicate several words like these examples:
Subject: The spider
The spider crawled slowly down the web to its center. 
The spider created a beautiful web that looked like lace. 
The spider was almost invisible against the dark dead leaf.

The blazing sunlight… 
A terrible scream…
Suddenly a slim white cat… 
Tightly coiled, the snake… 
When Angela was eight, she…

Write an interesting subject for each predicate. Make your predicate several words like these examples.
Predicate: … found the largest snake in the place.
Our science teacher found the largest snake in the place. 
The most experienced mountain climber found the largest snake in the place. 
The guide in the reptile house found the largest snake in the place.

…rushed back up the stairs to wake up the family. 
…have the ability to sit still. 
…had to walk right past the gates of the chocolate factory. 
…trudge to school down a long road through the woods with his big brother and his two sisters. 
…was grinning with his big teeth hanging out over his lower lip.

This is about the level I would start and can adjust to a lower or higher level if needed. Every session is completely individualized to the students level.