Subject or Predicate Game

Sometimes at the end of the day when we are waiting for the bell to ring, we'll sing songs like the Sentence Song to fill the time productively.  The other day someone picked the Sentence Song to sing and another little dear went and grabbed the Sentence Shazam! game and handed it to me.  That is how much they love it.

They loved it so much that I decided to make a Subject or Predicate Shazam!

You could play this and sing the Subject and Predicate Song to help your little peanuts learn these concepts.

Click the picture to go to my Teacher's Notebook shop

My kiddos requested more shazam! cards for this version because they like them.  Go figure!  You could take out some if need be.

I'll give away a copy of this game to a random commenter.

The Sentence Song

So I got the copy of the sentence song from my school computer.  Remember this is not my original song but I changed maybe two words to make it fit my needs.  The author is Kim Shelley.  (If you know her tell her thanks!)

The kids LOVE this song.  In fact, every year that I've used this song the kids love it.  It's a keeper.

My classes quickly realize how much I love songs, music, and movement and this year's class is no different.  The big difference this year, however, is that this class will just spontaneously break out into song all on their own.

I love it!

It cracks me up!

For example, I'll walk by someone and remind them to write in complete sentences and before you can say "complete what?" the class is singing the sentence song.

How can you not love that?


I'm known for spontaneously breaking into song but I don't recall a class doing it like this.

In fact, a few years ago, the daughter of a fellow teacher that I had in my class once told her mom, "Mrs. Schaff will just start singing out of the blue and not even be embarrassed!"

When the mom told me I laughed so hard.  Then I asked, "Should I be embarrassed?"

Nah, these are little kids.  What do they care?  We all spend to much of our lives being self-conscious, embarrassed, and/or worrying about what other people think.

So if the kids that leave my room remember nothing else, maybe they'll remember to take a chance . . . because you can succeed if you don't try!

Click the picture to download.

Happy singing friends!

Sentence or Fragment

Why is it most kids can answer a question in a complete sentence but can't write one?  I think they just get in a hurry.

Well, we are working on complete sentences like crazy.  Knowing how to write complete sentences is crucial for the whole year since I require almost all written answers to be in complete sentences.  (Is that mean of me?  Or do you do that too?)

We started out by learning what a complete sentence is and isn't.  Enter "The Sentence Song" which the kids and I love.  I don't recall where the original came from (not me) but I've tweaked it just a smidge.  (Oh, snap that's on my computer at school so I'll post it later this week.  Sorry.)

Then we played the "Secret Question" game.  Again not my original idea but don't ask me where it came from.  For this you have one student come to the front of the room and whisper a question in his/her ear.  The child then answers in a complete sentence for all to hear.  The rest of the class has to figure out the question you asked based on the child's answer.  FUN!  Divide kids into teams and score points for correct questions if you want.  Some kids have a really hard time with this and some get it no problem.  One of my brightest was dumbfounded.

We also played "Sentence or Fragment Shazam!"  For this game, students draw a card from a container.  I like to use a lunch bag from the Dollar Store.  The student reads the card out loud and tells (in a complete sentence of course) if it is a sentence or a fragment.  If correct, the child keeps the card.  If incorrect, the card gets put back in the bag.  But, dun dun dun...if a shazam! card is drawn all that child's cards go back into the bag.  The winner (if you want) is the child with the most cards at the end.

Click on the picture to download

I don't make this game self-checking because I like the kids to have discussions about why or why not it is or isn't a sentence.  I say prove it a lot to my kiddos.  I very rarely have huge arguments.  But if you want you could number the cards and make an answer key.  Most of my kiddos were quickly able to tell what part was missing which will help this week when we actually learn the terms subject and predicate.

If you can use it please leave me some love.

Subjects & Predicates Freebie

I went to bed the other night and a song popped into my head about subjects and predicates.  So naturally I grabbed the phone and made a quick voice recording so I wouldn't forget the tune or words.

I don't even try to whisper or hide it from the hubs anymore.

He knows I'm nuts and loves me anyway!

It isn't going to be on Billboards Top 10 (or 100 for that matter) and you won't see me or Adele performing it on the Grammy's but it's easy and to the point which is what my kids need.

If you'd like a copy click on the picture and you can snag it for free from my TN shop.

And if you do decide you can use it please leave me a little thanks.

And don't forget to enter my giveaway for a $25 Starbuck's gift card before Saturday midnight.  You can enter by clicking here.