What is this skill?
There are four kinds of sentence, and each has a job. A statement tells something and ends with a period: "The sky is blue." A question asks something and ends with a question mark: "Where did you put my shoes?" A command tells someone to do something and usually ends with a period: "Wash your hands before dinner." An exclamation shows strong feeling and ends with an exclamation point: "What a beautiful day!"
In this practice the child reads a sentence and names its kind from four choices, or picks the end mark that finishes a sentence shown without one, such as "How old are you," "My brother plays the drums" and "Watch out for that puddle." The tricky cases are on purpose. "Please pass the salt" and "Please close the door" are commands, even with the polite word please, and "I can't believe we won!" is an exclamation and not a statement. The sorting games split sentences into pairs such as statement and question, or command and exclamation, and into three kinds at a time, with bird sentences (Birds have feathers, Can birds swim, Feed the birds), lunch sentences and night-sky sentences (We saw a shooting star!).
Why it matters
Sentence types teach a child that writing has a purpose. A writer who knows they are asking a question, giving an order or showing excitement picks the end mark and the word order to match. A reader who notices the type can hear the tone in their head.
They tie to punctuation. A child who is sure whether a sentence is a question will not forget the question mark, and a child who knows a sentence is an exclamation will use the exclamation point on purpose, and not on every line.
Variety also makes writing better. Third graders are asked to write more than one sentence on a topic, and a paragraph that mixes statements with a question or an exclamation reads as lively, with a voice.
Common mistakes
- Calling a command a statement because it ends with a period. Look at what the sentence does. "Feed the birds" does not tell a fact, it asks someone to act, and the subject you is hidden.
- Thinking an exclamation point always means an exclamation. A warning like "Watch out for that puddle!" shows strong feeling, and a command can end with one, too. The practice asks which end mark fits, so children get used to picking by meaning.
- Mixing up a question and a statement with the same words, such as "The cat is asleep" and "Is the cat asleep?" The order of the words changes, and so does the end mark.
- Thinking polite words change the type. "Please" softens the command and does not turn it into a question.
How to help at home
- Play a four-corners game. Say a sentence aloud and have your child point to a corner for each type: a statement, a question, a command or an exclamation.
- Have your child give you three commands for the next five minutes, and let them see that you follow only the ones that are commands.
- Turn a statement into a question by flipping the words, "We go to school on Monday" and "Do we go to school on Monday?" Notice how the end mark changes too.
- Ask for one exclamation in the day's writing, and one only. Saving the exclamation point makes it strong.
Worked examples
These are real questions from the Tutorsaurus sentence types practice, with the answers worked out.
Example 1
What kind of sentence is this?
Please close the door.
Choices: Exclamation, Command, Statement, Question
Answer: Command. This is a command. It tells someone to do something.
Example 2
Sort the bird sentences into statements, questions, and commands.
To sort: Birds have feathers., Can birds swim?, Feed the birds., Penguins cannot fly., Where do birds sleep?, Look at that eagle.
Answer: Statement: Birds have feathers., Penguins cannot fly. · Question: Can birds swim?, Where do birds sleep? · Command: Feed the birds., Look at that eagle. Statements tell facts. Questions ask. Commands tell someone to do something.
Example 3
Sort the night-sky sentences into statements, questions, and exclamations.
To sort: Did you see that?, We saw a shooting star!, Stars are far away., How many stars are there?, Wow, it's so bright!, The moon is full tonight.
Answer: Statement: Stars are far away., The moon is full tonight. · Question: Did you see that?, How many stars are there? · Exclamation: We saw a shooting star!, Wow, it's so bright! Questions end with a question mark, exclamations end with an exclamation mark, and statements end with a period.
Printable worksheet (PDF) — one page of questions from this practice that work on paper, easier ones first, with an answer key on page 2. Free to print, no sign-up.