Supporting ESL Newcomers Through Sentence Building, Grammar, and Vocabulary Activities

Many ESL newcomers struggle with writing because they’re often expected to produce sentences or even entire stories without a clear understanding of sentence structure. This can be especially challenging for newcomers who are still learning the basics of the language. Without explicit instruction on what a sentence is, how to build one, and how grammar works, students may feel lost or frustrated when asked to write. The good news is that the solution doesn’t have to be complicated. By using structured, engaging sentence-building activities, we can help ESL students develop the confidence and skills they need to write effectively. These activities offer essential scaffolding to support language acquisition (vocabulary), reinforce grammar concepts, and improve writing fluency—starting with the basics of sentence construction.

                                

ESL Sentence Building: From Words to Simple Sentences

Sentence-building activities give ESL newcomers the tools to construct sentences in a logical and structured way. A great starting point is focusing on the fundamental elements of a sentence: Who (subject), What (action), and Where (location).

Grammar and Sentence Building Activities: How Do These Activities Work?

ESL Writing Practice with Sentence Mats

Students first build a sentence using building mats with three headings: WHO, WHAT, and WHERE. Building mats are color-coded to help ESL newcomers match the correct sentence order. Once students build a sentence, they copy the sentence on a recording sheet. After copying, students review capitalization and punctuation. Encourage students to notice articles (a, an, the), identify nouns, and identify verbs (action words).

2. Teaching Grammar Concepts Through Sentence Building

Depending on your students' proficiency levels, you can use these activities to introduce various grammatical structures. 

Present Continuous Tense in ESL Writing: 

Use the activity to describe actions happening now or at the moment of speaking. Guide students to recognize this structure: Person + is/are + verb + ing.

Modal Verb 'Can' for ESL Learners: Use sentences to introduce ability and permission.

Simple Past Tense and Irregular Verbs in ESL Writing: Introduce past-tense structures, differentiating between regular and irregular verbs.

Building Writing Independence and Storytelling for ESL Students

These activities also reinforce students' independence in writing. In addition to sentence building, you can extend the learning experience by encouraging students to expand their sentences and create their own stories, which helps build oral language skills.

Have students build a story using picture sequences.

Ask them to describe what happened first, next, and last.

Depending on their proficiency level, use these activities to introduce various grammatical structures, such as

• Singular and Plural Forms of 'To Be'.
• Simple Past Tense and Regular vs. Irregular Verbs.

As you can see, these Build a Sentence activities do more than just help students construct sentences—they also provide opportunities to analyze grammar in context, build vocabulary, and develop storytelling skills.

Writing plays a crucial role in developing sentence-level skills for ELLs by starting with simple structures and progressing to more complex ones. It also reinforces vocabulary acquisition, helping students use academic language in a meaningful way. Building sentences from words (Who, What, Where) provides a  clear, step-by-step instruction that reduces overwhelm, building confidence through guided practice. Additionally, writing strengthens speaking, reading, and content knowledge in subjects like science and history, while promoting critical thinking. Finally, scaffolding provides gradual independence, allowing ELLs to become more confident and competent writers over time.

Need writing lessons for more advanced ELLS? Check out this blog post.

Would you like to receive more tips, trick and FREEBIES?  Click below!