Grammar · Sentence level
Color-coded sentence parts
Use the same color for each sentence part every time, for example subject, verb, object and time phrase, so students can see how English sentences are built. It helps students whose home languages order words differently.
- Bands
- 1 to 3
- Stages
- Lower elementary, Upper elementary and Middle school
- Settings
- Mainstream class, Pull-out support and Small group
- Prep
- Low prep
How to do it
- Agree a small set of colors for sentence parts across the class or department.
- Color-code example sentences on the board.
- Students color-code sentences from their reading.
- Students build sentences from colored cards.
- Use the colors in feedback, for example “Your blue part is missing.”
In a lesson
Math (lower elementary)
The teacher writes “Sam / has / five apples” in blue, red and green. A new arrival whose home language puts the verb at the end of the sentence builds “Sam has three pencils” from colored cards, then writes his own word problem with the parts in the right order.
What commonly goes wrong
- Colors change between teachers or lessons.
- There are too many categories for beginners.
- Students color-code but never write.
Adapting it
For a lower band
Use two colors only: who or what, and what they do.
For a higher band
Add clauses, such as a blue main clause and a purple subordinate clause.
Especially helpful for speakers of
Korean and Japanese