A Guide to Teaching Sentence Segmentation to your Kindergarten Students
WHAT IS IT?
Sentence segmentation is the ability to hear the individual words in a sentence. Therefore, the goal is for students to understand that sentences are made up of words. We want students to be able to hear pauses that break up a sentence (into words) in spoken language.
Sentence segmentation is a crucial skill in early literacy development. It is apart of phonological awareness. It is simply the ability to count words in a sentence - helping young learners break down text into meaningful units. It is fundamental to reading fluency, comprehension, and writing. In this blog post, we’ll explore the importance of sentence segmentation, strategies to teach it effectively, and resources to support educators, teachers and parents. Plus, grab your free ‘How-To Guide for Sentence Segmentation’ to implement these strategies with ease!
Strategies for Teaching Sentence Segmentation
Here are some engaging ways to help young learners master sentence segmentation:
✅ Sentence Strips: Provide students with sentence segmentation strips where they point or add a counter for each word in the sentence.
✅ Clap & Count: Have students clap for each word in a sentence, reinforcing the idea that sentences are made up of separate words.
OVERVIEW:
Below is two ways to teach sentence segmentation - through clapping each time the students hear a word in the sentence (best for whole class) OR using ‘Sentence Segmentation Strips’ and adding a counter or pointing each time the students can hear a word in the sentence.
INTRODUCTION:
Introduce sentence segmentation and explain what students will be doing.
“Today we are learning about sentence segmentation. We will be listening for the words in a sentence.”
MODELLING / I DO:
Demonstrate the task to students. Give a clear example by describing what you are doing and show the actions.
“I am going to say a sentence and you will repeat the sentence after me. We will then say the sentence slowly and [clap or add a counter] each time we hear a word in the sentence.”
“The sentence is: ‘The dog jumps.’”
Students repeat the sentence.
“Now I will slowly say the sentence and [clap or add a counter] each time I hear a word in the sentence.”
Clap or add a counter each time you say a word. “The (add counter 1 or clap) dog (add counter 2 or clap) jumps.” (add counter 3 or clap).
GUIIDED / WE DO TOGETHER:
Do the activity along side the students.
“Now it is your turn. I am going to say a sentence and you will repeat the sentence after me. We will then say the sentence slowly and [clap or add a counter] each time we hear a word in the sentence.”
“The sentence is: I can hop.”
Students repeat the sentence.
“Now we will slowly say the sentence and [clap or add a counter] each time I hear a word in the sentence.”
With the students clap or add a counter each time you say a word. “I (add counter 1 or clap) can (add counter 2 or clap) hop.” (add counter 3 or clap).
INDEPENDENT/ YOU DO
Students to complete the task independently.
“Now it is your turn to do it yourself.”
“I am going to say a sentence and you will repeat the sentence after me. We will then say the sentence slowly and [clap or add a counter] each time we hear a word in the sentence.”
“The sentence is: He is fun.”
Students repeat the sentence.
“Now you will slowly say the sentence and [clap or add a counter] each time I hear a word in the sentence.”
KEY QUESTIONS
What should be taught first oral or written sentence segmentation?
Spoken/oral sentence segmentation is apart of phonological awareness which is all about spoken language. This should be taught first. Written sentence segmentation connects to concepts of print.
What to do when a student is counting syllables not the words?
If a students is hearing the syllables in a word explain to them that: “[dolphin] has two syllables but it is one word, so we only move one counter or clap once. Let’s try again together.”
Should I use sentence with monosyllabic words?
Monosyllabic words - have only one syllable.
Multisyllabic words - have more than one syllable.
You can start introducing sentence segmentation with monosyllabic words and then progress to multisyllabic words in the sentence as well.
Sentence Segmentation Resources for Teachers
To make sentence segmentation fun and accessible, I’ve created a range of resources to support educators:
📌 Sentence Segmentation Strips – Hands-on practice to help students idenity words in a sentence.
📌 Flip Cards – Featuring both monosyllabic and multisyllabic sentences (3-6 words) to support teaching.
📌 Free ‘How-To’ Guide – A step-by-step guide explaining how to introduce and reinforce sentence segmentation in the classroom. Download it here!
Final Thoughts
Teaching sentence segmentation sets the stage for reading success. By incorporating interactive activities and structured resources, you can help your students develop essential phonological awareness skills in an engaging way.
Don’t forget to grab your free ‘How-To Guide for Sentence Segmentation’ and explore my sentence segmentation resources to support your teaching!
