Negative Sentence Construction
Form negative sentences using not and contractions with picture prompts.
Session summary (SOAP)
Stays on this screen. Nothing is saved or sent.
Mark a card Correct, Correct with cue or Incorrect and the summary writes itself here.
How to run it
Give the positive sentence and ask for the negative. I like broccoli to I don't like broccoli is the transformation being taught, and it is harder than repeating the negative form. Group by auxiliary — the don't sentences, the isn't sentences, the can't sentences — because the auxiliary is what changes and the rest of the sentence does not. Eight minutes covers the twelve.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentPresent the item and wait 5 seconds of quiet before helping.Log as correct
- HintStress the part of the sentence that changes, or point to the word ending.Log as cued
- Sentence starterSay the first half of the sentence and let the student finish it.Log as cued
- ModelSay the correct form in the whole sentence; the student repeats it.Log as cued
Adjust it
Give a sentence starter every time, and do fewer cards.
Ask for a new sentence of the student's own with the same form, with no card to lean on.
Matching IEP goal
Given sentence cards, Student will produce the target grammatical form in sentences in 8 of 10 opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions, given no more than an indirect cue.
Send it home through the parent portal →About this activity
Twelve negative sentences across several forms: I don't like broccoli; she isn't home right now; they can't come to the party; he didn't finish his homework; we won't be late; I haven't seen that movie; the dog is not sleeping; that's not my backpack. The set mixes contracted and full negatives deliberately, since students often have one and not the other.
What to listen for
Listen for the auxiliary. He no finish and he didn't finished are two different errors — the first is missing the helping verb, the second has kept the past marking on the main verb after the auxiliary took it. Both are common in early development and in second-language learners, and they need different corrections.
Carrying it home
Negatives happen all day. Modelling the full form back — no, I don't want that one — rather than accepting a one-word no gives a child the structure repeatedly without any teaching.
What's in this activity
- I don't like broccoli.
- She isn't home right now.
- We won't be late.
- It isn't raining today.
- I haven't seen that movie.
- She doesn't want to go.
- The dog is not sleeping.
- That's not my backpack.
- He can't reach the shelf.
- I don't have a pencil.
- +2 more
Questions
- What grades is this for?
- Kindergarten through third, and older students learning English as an additional language.
- Do I need to sign in?
- No, all twelve sentences play free in the browser.
- My student says 'he didn't finished'. What is that?
- Double marking — the auxiliary didn't already carries the past tense, so the main verb goes back to its base form. It shows the student has both rules and is applying them at once, which is a normal stage.
Use this board with your caseload
With a free account, every correct, cued and incorrect mark is saved to the student and scored against their IEP goal, with the data written up for you. Assign it as home practice through the parent portal.
Track progress freeFree for SLPs. No card, no trial clock.