Vary Sentence Beginnings in a Story

Use the page that matches what your child's own draft needs most. Do the guided part together, then have your child try the same fix on a paragraph of their own writing. Compare with the answer key.

Vary sentence beginnings in a story by matching openers to clues, then rewrite two sentences. Sentence variety means your sentences do not all begin the same way. The directions on the page read: Read the example. Then, for each sentence of the story, write the opener from the bank that fits its clue on the line. Use each opener once. Then, rewrite sentences 7 and 8 with openers of your own. An answer key is included.

Yes, both. We made it for 4th Grade writing process, and the page works the same whether it lands on a kitchen table or a center rotation. At home, most families go through it together and talk the answers out loud, and that talking is where most of the learning happens with revising. In class it runs well as independent work while you pull a small group. Print one copy or thirty, whichever the day needs.

Fourth graders revise for a strong opening and closing, clear links between ideas, varied sentences and enough facts or examples to support each point (W.4.5). These sheets take one of those at a time.

A hook is the first sentence or two that makes a reader want to keep going, such as a question or a surprising fact. The introduction page names three kinds of hooks and has children rewrite a flat opening with one of them.

Read the short sentences aloud so your child hears the stop and start. Then join two with a word like and, but, because or when. The choppy sentences page shows the joining words first, then lets your child choose their own for the last two.

Yes. All eight revising sheets have an answer key.

CCSS W.4.5 asks 4th graders to plan, revise and edit with guidance from adults and peers. In practice that means planning a whole essay before drafting, revising for a strong opening and closing, and editing for the grammar rules in L.4.1 and L.4.2. These sheets give each of those jobs its own page.

Match the planner to the kind of writing. The plot diagram fits a story, the Venn diagram fits compare and contrast, the timeline fits a biography and the formal outline fits an informative essay. The opinion essay, persuasive letter and book review planners all ask for reasons with evidence.

Word choice is where 4th grade drafts improve most. Each of the twelve pages takes one tool, such as vivid verbs, precise nouns, adverbs, exact words for colors and sizes, or slow motion details, so a child can practice it on its own before using it in a draft.

25 of the 38 sheets have an answer key, including every revising and editing page. The 13 planners have no key, since each child plans their own piece. For those, check that each box is filled and fits the topic.