Sentence Analysis Movable Pieces

A detailed guide to understanding the Sentence Analysis material and how it is used within the Lower Elementary and Upper Elementary curriculum


How does it work?

The Sentence Analysis material contains everything your child needs for analyzing a sentence into its logical parts. With this versatile set, they can start with the simplest of sentences like,“Toby ran,” to discover who the subject is and what they did.

Next, your child can analyze sentences of mid-level complexity that include modifiers, direct and indirect objects, as well as appositives, such as, “The driver, Cameron, brought us a special package.”

More advanced analysis includes a variety of prepositional phrases and the meaning they bring to sentences: “In November, we moved across town for good."

Prerequisite Skills - Sentence Analysis Movable Pieces can be used early in a child’s study of grammar and again later as their understanding of sentences grows in sophistication.

  • Lower Elementary students typically start working with the Sentence Analysis set once they are able to recognize these parts of speech: noun, article, verb, adjective, adverb.
  • Upper Elementary work becomes more advanced once a student has mastered the ability to recognize all parts of speech and has completed early sentence analysis work.
Understanding Indirect Objects

Sample lesson

Start by watching this sample lesson from our Guidepost Homeschool platform that will familiarize you to the Sentence Analysis Movable Pieces and its use.

If you are already subscribed to Guidepost Homeschool, scroll down to see all the corresponding lessons!

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How to set up

Setup - Your box should contain the following elements, please locate them using the photo on the left to match the contents:

  • 1 large red circle
  • 4 black circles of decreasing size
  • 9 small orange circles
  • 2 black triangles
  • 2 blue triangles
  • 3 black arrows with questions and terms
  • 2 blue arrows with questions and terms
  • 9 orange arrows with questions and terms

Additional materials - In general, you can count on the following supplies being used with the Sentence Analysis Movable Pieces, so it’s a good idea to have them accessible for your child to use:

  • Pencil
  • Paper
  • Ruler (if you have one)
  • Strips of Paper for writing sentences
  • Scissors

For Guidepost Homeschool subscribers

If you are already subscribed to Guidepost Homeschool, start in the order below to navigate to the corresponding lesson plans using the Sentence Analysis Movable Pieces in our Altitude learning platform.

Wondering about supplies used in particular lessons? Detailed materials lists can be found at the beginning of each lesson in Guidepost’s Altitude system, as well as on the materials cards at the beginning of each unit.

  • Corresponding Altitude lessons

    Lessons (Altitude Cards) where the Sentence Analysis Set is used

    Early Sentence Analysis Overview (Ages 6-8)

    • First Parts of the Sentence
    • First Parts of the Sentence – Variations
    • Indirect Object
    • Adjectival Modifiers and Appositives
    • Adverbial Modifiers

    Later Sentence Analysis Overview (Ages 7-12)

    • Elliptical Sentences
    • Subject Complements
    • Transitive and Intransitive Verbs
    • Sentence Patterns
    • More Sentence Patterns
    • Inverted Order of a Question
    • Active and Passive Voice
    • Phrasal Verbs
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