51 Sentence Starter Sticks
Jillian Owens
Strategy Overview
- This strategy requires the teacher to label popsicle sticks with sentence starters that students can use to guide their conversations in the classroom.
- Students will pick a stick at random and read the sentence starter on the stick. The student will finish the sentence with a related thought.
- Sentence starters serve as a scaffold to help children express ideas in full sentences (Savoie, 2023).
- Sentence starters give students the vocabulary they need to participate in academic discussions (Savoie, 2023).
- This strategy supports academic conversations by connecting ideas throughout the conversation and pushing the conversation in new directions (Serravallo, 2015).
Strategy in Action
Sentence starter sticks can be used in a variety of different formats. They can be used to aid partner, small group, or even class discussions. After students are given a prompt to discuss, the popsicle sticks can be used to guide the conversation. As students run out of things to talk about, they can pull sticks from the jar to continue the conversation. The students will use the sentence starter on the stick they pulled and then finish the sentence in a way that relates to the conversation so far.
Before using sentence starter sticks, the teacher should model the use of them. Students will need to hear examples of how the sentence starters would be used in a sentence. Consider using different sentence starters for different content areas.
Related Resources
References
Savoie, L. (2023, January 10). Developing language skills with sentence stems. Community Educational Research Group. https://www.commresh.com/developing-language-skills-with-sentence- stems
Serravallo, J. (2015). The reading strategies book: Your everything guide to developing skilled readers. Heinemann.
