Sentence Expansion Practice
Expand simple kernel sentences by adding adjectives, adverbs, and prepositional phrases.
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
Cover the expansion and let the student build their own first. Then compare and name what was added: what kind of dog, how did it run, where did it go. Those three questions are the method, and they work on any bare sentence the student meets afterwards. Ten minutes covers three or four sentences properly with the comparison.
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
Ten bare sentences shown expanded: the dog ran becomes the big brown dog ran quickly through the park; she ate lunch becomes she ate a delicious lunch at noon with her friends; the bird sang becomes the tiny blue bird sang sweetly in the morning. Each expansion adds an adjective, an adverb and a prepositional phrase — three elements, which is a countable target.
What to listen for
Listen for which element goes missing. Adjectives come first for most students, adverbs second, and prepositional phrases last — a student adding the big brown dog ran and stopping has one of the three. Watch for expansions that add words without adding information, which is padding rather than elaboration.
Carrying it home
Bare sentences are easy to expand together. Saying the dog ran and asking what kind, how and where is a three-question game that takes twenty seconds and needs nothing.
What's in this activity
- The dog ran. → The big brown dog ran quickly through the park.
- She ate lunch. → She ate a delicious lunch at noon with her friends.
- He read a book. → He read an exciting book quietly in his room.
- The car stopped. → The old red car stopped suddenly at the light.
- They played. → They happily played soccer in the backyard.
- The bird sang. → The tiny blue bird sang sweetly in the morning.
- We walked. → We walked slowly along the sandy beach.
- The boy fell. → The little boy fell hard on the icy sidewalk.
- She smiled. → She smiled shyly at her new teacher.
- It rained. → It rained heavily all afternoon.
Questions
- What grades is this for?
- Second through fifth, as sentence-level elaboration work.
- Do I need an account?
- No, all ten sentences play free.
- How is this different from the adjective board?
- That one adds two adjectives to a bare sentence. This adds three different kinds of element — adjective, adverb and prepositional phrase — which is a larger and later target.
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.