Year 1 Simple sentences worksheet

“Sentences that happen now” is free to print, with no account. It is the first sheet in the Year 1 English unit “Simple sentences”, for children aged 5 to 6, and takes about 20 minutes.

Print it on A4. The child's pages come first; the answers, and what each wrong answer tells you, are on the grown-up page that follows. Weeks 3 to 4 of the year, 7 sheets in the unit.

Free sample · answers on the last page

Sentences that happen now

Name: ____________ · Date: ____________
Year 1 · English · about 20 minutes
Answers are on the grown-up page

Today I can write simple sentences that happen now, using the present tense.

A Look back3 min

1.
Circle the first sound in the word ship.
shchp
2.
Circle the word that names this shape.
cubejumpbigsat
3.
Put these words in order to make a sentence. Write 1, 2 and 3 in the boxes.
1. in the yard.
2. The hen
3. clucks

B Watch me, then you4 min

Look at the hen in the yard. What is it doing right now?

A hen running across a sunny farmyard towards a gate

Watch me

The hen runs.

Runs is a doing word, and it is happening now.

The first letter is a capital. The last mark is a full stop.

Now you

1.
Circle the word that makes the sentence happen now: The dog ... at the ball.
chaseschased

C Your turn8 min

Circle the word that fits. Say each sentence aloud first.

1.
Circle the word that is happening now: The cat ... on the mat.
sleepsslept
2.
Circle the word that fits: The cats ... on the mat.
sleepsleeps
3.
Circle the word that fits: I ... my lunch.
eateats
4.
Circle the word that fits: Mia ... a song.
singssing

Say it out loud: What changed from one sentence to the next? Did the naming word change, or the verb?

D Spot the mistake3 min

A brown dog barking by a garden gate on a sunny day

Kit writes: “the dog barks”

1.
Write the sentence correctly.

E Think deeper4 min

1.
Look around you. Write one sentence about something happening now.

How did it feel?

I can do it Nearly Not yet

For the grown-up

Sentences that happen now · 2 minutes to read

Answers, and what a wrong one tells you

A

1. sh If the child circles ch or p, say ship slowly and listen to the first sound, which is sh. Ch is the sound at the start of chin, not ship.

2. cube If the child circles jump, big or sat, those words do not name a thing. Ask: what is this shape called? A name for a thing is a noun.

3. 1 The hen · 2 clucks · 3 in the yard. If the child starts with in the yard, ask: who or what is the sentence about? The hen comes first, then the doing word, then the place.

B

1. chases If the child circles chased, ask them to say the sentence aloud. Chased means it already happened. Ask: is the dog chasing now?

C

1. sleeps If the child circles slept, ask: is the cat sleeping now, or did it sleep before? Circle sleeps.

2. sleep If the child circles sleeps, ask how many cats there are. More than one cat needs sleep, with no s on the end.

3. eat If the child circles eats, read I eats aloud. It does not sound right with I. Circle eat.

4. sings If the child circles sing, read Mia sing a song aloud. It does not sound right. We say Mia sings.

D

1. Look for: The dog barks. with a capital letter at the start and a full stop at the end. Kit has the right verb, but the sentence starts with a small letter and has no full stop. Ask: what must every sentence start with? Then ask what mark comes at the end.

E

1. Look for: A sentence with a naming word, a present-tense verb that is happening now, a capital letter at the start and a full stop at the end.

Words to use

Say“Which word tells us it is happening right now? Say the sentence aloud and listen to it.”

Instead of“Good, you got it. Now do the rest faster.”

After the sheet

Walk around the house together. Your child says a short sentence about something happening now, like The clock ticks. Write each one down and count how many you get.

Tick what your child got right in StudyDen. Anything missed comes back in a later Look back box, so there's no need to redo the sheet.

The rest of this unit

6 more sheets come with a StudyDen plan, in teaching order:

Sending sentences back in time(with a plan)
Now or before?(with a plan)
Statements and questions(with a plan)
Questions and commands(with a plan)
Joining with and(with a plan)
Joining ideas with and(with a plan)

Every Year 1 English worksheet

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