5th Grade · Writing · L.5.1, L.5.3.A
Sentences Lesson Plan for 5th Grade
A ready-to-teach sentences lesson for 5th Grade. Everything below is classroom-tested structure: an objective, a 45-minute sequence, a way to check who got it, and 6 printable practice pages.
Approximately 45 minutes
Learning objective
- Identify run-on sentences that incorrectly join independent clauses
- Correct run-ons by adding punctuation or conjunctions
- Rewrite run-on sentences as properly punctuated complete sentences
Materials
- Comma splices
- Simple, compound & complex sentences
- Write simple, compound and complex sentences
- Writing varied sentences
- Starting sentences
- Sentence types
- Pencils, and whiteboard space for the modeled examples
Lesson steps
1. Notice it first (5 min)
Put two sentences on the board, one that uses sentences correctly and one that does not. Ask students which sounds right before you name any rule. Noticing comes before naming.
2. Name the rule (I do) (8 min)
Now name sentences and state the rule in one sentence. Write it where it can stay all week. Model correcting the broken sentence from the warm-up.
3. Fix them together (we do) (12 min)
Work through four or five sentences as a class. Mix in one that is already correct, because students who are pattern-matching rather than thinking will "fix" it anyway and reveal themselves.
4. Independent practice (you do) (15 min)
Hand out "Comma splices". Students work independently. Circulate and watch for the students who can do the exercise but cannot explain the rule, since that gap shows up later in their writing.
5. Apply it to real writing (5 min)
Students find one place in their own writing folder where sentences applies, and fix it. This is the step that moves the rule from worksheet to writing.
Check for understanding
Read the last two sentences of each student's independent work. Applying sentences correctly in their own sentence matters more than getting the exercise items right.
Differentiation
Extra support. Students who stall: pull them into a small group and rebuild sentences with concrete materials or a simpler text before asking for the written work again. Do not send the page home as homework, it will just rehearse the misunderstanding.
Extension. Students who finish early: ask them to write their own sentences problem for a partner to solve, then check the partner's work. Creating a problem is harder than solving one and it surfaces whether they really understand sentences.
Skills covered in this lesson
Run-on sentences · Fragment, sentence or run-on? · Comma splices · Subjects and predicates · Simple & complete subjects and predicates · Simple, compound & complex sentences · Combining sentences · Write simple, compound and complex sentences · Direct objects · Direct & indirect objects · Writing varied sentences · Adding details
