Subject: Does your sentence begin with who or what? If not, is the subject clearly included after a comma at the end of an opening phrase? Your sentence MUST have who or what it is about.

Predicate: Does your sentence tell the action or state of being of the subject? The predicate MUST tell what the subject is or does. 

All the words: Read your sentence aloud to yourself. Did you include all the words to make your sentence clear? It is very easy to miss an important word when you are writing. 

Pro Tip: If you struggle with missing words, try to count your words before writing the sentence. Then count them after writing it to make sure you have the right amount of words.

Capitals: The first letter of a sentence MUST be capitalized. The word I MUST be capitalized. All proper nouns (names) MUST be capitalized.

Ending punctuation: Your complete thought (subject and predicate) MUST end with a period, question mark, or exclamation point.

Reminders: 

• Most sentences will end with a period. 

• If your sentence asks a question, use a question mark. 

• Only end with an exclamation point if your sentence truly shows a strong feeling.

Spelling: Check spelling for any word you are unsure about. 

• Your source or prompt will often help you spell correctly. 

• If you are using a Google Doc, let it help you.

• You often have access to a dictionary online. Use that!

• Also, think about what you’ve learned about roots and affixes.