How do you define a "sentence" to a 4 year old?

[theYoungerMrsWarde]

I'm working with OPGTR and HOP. Unless I missed it (which is completely possible) I can't find what I'm suppose to tell ds4 what a "sentence" is, even though I'm suppose to tell him that sentences begin with words that are capitalized. I answered "What is a question?" confidently on Sunday, but I don't know how to explain "a sentence." And looking up in the (online) dictionaries did not help. He's been "reading" sentences (we're still on short "a" CVC words) without commenting on the capitol letters and punctuation, but I don't want to move on without explaining this. Help!

[Sevilla]

All I can think of is the Shurley English jingle, haha. I'd say it has a subject noun, verb, and is a complete thought (if they are not reading). If they can read I'd point out capital letters and end marks (. ! ?). IMO a 4 yo can recognize those and understand it :). Giving lots of examples will help b/c their ear is trained to recognize complete sentences vs. fragments.

[Mrs Twain]

We didn't cover the idea that a sentence is a complete thought until 2nd grade in R&S. I would probably just point out what a sentence looks like as written in a book, i.e. starts with a capital letter and ends with a period. I don't think that a 4-year old would know what you are talking about if you tried to explain nouns and verbs.

Edited June 28, 2011 by Mrs Twain

[Farrar]

I wouldn't try.

 

For reading, I just taught my kids to take a breath when they get to the period (or question mark or exclamation mark). I explained that it would help them understand the meaning better because that's a place where the writing just pauses to finish a thought. It was easy when sentences in the early easy readers were on separate lines, but when they started reading longer stuff, they both struggled with it a little before they got it.

 

But that's just a reading fluency thing - a procedural help so they can comprehend what they're reading. I wouldn't try to define it beyond that at that age. My kids are in first and have really just begun to get what the parts of speech are a little bit. Sentence is a little bit abstract for them still.

[Mandy in TN]

I'm working with OPGTR and HOP. Unless I missed it (which is completely possible) I can't find what I'm suppose to tell ds4 what a "sentence" is, even though I'm suppose to tell him that sentences begin with words that are capitalized. I answered "What is a question?" confidently on Sunday, but I don't know how to explain "a sentence." And looking up in the (online) dictionaries did not help. He's been "reading" sentences (we're still on short "a" CVC words) without commenting on the capitol letters and punctuation, but I don't want to move on without explaining this. Help!

What is a question? How did you answer this? A question is a type of sentence! So, if you have that covered, then it should be no problem.

 

A sentence expresses a complete thought. It starts with a capital letter and ends with a puntuation mark (. ? !). This is where I would stop with a 4yo.

 

If you want to go on, you could say that a sentence contains a subject and a predicate, expresses a complete thought, and can be a:

question (interrogative- ends with a question mark),

statement (declarative- ends with a period),

command (imperative- ends with a period or exclamation point),

exclamation (exclamatory- ends with an exclamation point)

I probably wouldn't cover all this with a 4yo.

 

HTH-

Mandy

[2GAboys]

A sentence is a group of words that expresses a complete thought. All sentences begin with a capital letter and end with a punctuation mark.

[nmoira]

Sentences (statements) name something and tell us what that something does. Sometimes all the someting does is be itself, so the sentence tells us about that.

 

If DD the Younger doesn't answer in a complete sentence, I usually say, "You've named something, but not told me what that something did/is," or "You've told me what something did/is, but not who did it." A prompting word or two usually does the trick.

Edited June 29, 2011 by nmoira

[Ellie]

I'm working with OPGTR and HOP. Unless I missed it (which is completely possible) I can't find what I'm suppose to tell ds4 what a "sentence" is, even though I'm suppose to tell him that sentences begin with words that are capitalized.

Ok, now that sounds backward to me. I teach my dc that we use capital letters at the beginning of sentences, not that a sentence begins with words that are capitalized.

 

:confused:

[BabyBre]

A la FLL: "A sentence is a group of words that expresses a complete thought. A sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a punctuation mark."

[twoforjoy]

At 4, I wouldn't worry about defining what a sentence is. I'd just point out that sentences start with capital letters and end with a punctuation mark. I'm pretty sure DS knew that long before I introduced the formal definition of a sentence, and he had a pretty good idea of what a sentence was, and could form a complete sentence if asked, before I formally defined it for him, just from knowing what sentences looked like and then generalizing about them.

 

I'm not sure a 4 year old would be able to get the idea of a sentence being a complete thought. I know that, even in first grade, DS found that concept a bit confusing.

[Farrar]

A sentence is a group of words that expresses a complete thought. All sentences begin with a capital letter and end with a punctuation mark.

 

Yes, but what would that really mean to a 4 year old? I think it's fine to present that definition, I just wouldn't expect it to mean much to a kid that age yet.

[ChrissySC]

I know SWB said this, but I have no idea where.

 

Tell s/he that it is one thing that you think or one idea. :)

Edited June 28, 2011 by ChrissySC

[theYoungerMrsWarde]

Ok, now that sounds backward to me. I teach my dc that we use capital letters at the beginning of sentences, not that a sentence begins with words that are capitalized.

 

:confused:

 

That's just me saying/typing it wrong :tongue_smilie:

 

What is a question? How did you answer this? A question is a type of sentence! So, if you have that covered, then it should be no problem.

 

HTH-

Mandy

 

I told him a question is something you say or ask to find out something. I'm not sure how I'd use that to explain a sentence.

[golfcartmama]

A sentence is a group of words that expresses a complete thought. All sentences begin with a capital letter and end with a punctuation mark.

 

 

This is exactly what I was thinking, love FLL! I think now I'll ALWAYS be able to answer all of the parts of speech definitions!:tongue_smilie:

[Roxy Roller]

A sentence expresses a complete thought. It starts with a capital letter and ends with a punctuation mark (. ? !). This is where I would stop with a 4yo.

 

 

:iagree:

[rockermom]

Sentences (statements) name something and tell us what that something does. Sometimes all the something does it be itself, so the sentence tells us about that.

 

If DD the Younger doesn't answer in a complete sentence, I usually say, "You've named something, but not told me what that something did/is," or "You've told me what something did/is, but not who did it." A prompting word or two usually does the trick.

 

I really like this. :)

[Guest Dulcimeramy]

Schoolhouse Rock. Mr. Morton is the subject of the sentence, and what the predicate says, he does. Some of my boys understood this as preschoolers once they saw this video and then played some word games with me.

 

Although I have to say, if a 4yo has no interest in this or can't quite grasp it, for heaven's sake, drop it and let him go play. He has years until he needs enough education to earn a living.