How to Share Sentence Starters With Families in Your Teacher Newsletter

The blank page is the single most common reason writing assignments go unstarted at the kitchen table. Students who know what they want to say often do not know how to begin saying it in academic language. Sentence starters solve this problem by giving students a syntactic entry point. A newsletter that shares the sentence starters your class uses gives families a homework tool they can reach for immediately when a student is stuck.

Explain what sentence starters are and why they help

"Sentence starters are partial phrases that give students a way into an academic sentence. 'The evidence suggests...' 'This is important because...' 'Unlike the first example, this one...' They reduce the effort of getting started by providing the language structure so the student can focus entirely on the content. Students who use sentence starters produce more complex, more academic sentences than students who start from a blank page, especially when working in a genre that is new to them."

Share the specific sentence starters used in your class right now

"This month we are focused on argumentative writing. The sentence starters we are using include: 'I claim that...' 'The evidence supports this because...' 'A counterargument might be...' 'However, this does not account for...' 'In conclusion, the strongest argument is...' If your student is working on an argument essay at home, these starters are the same ones they are using in class."

Tell families when to offer a sentence starter

"If your student has been staring at a blank page for more than three minutes, ask: 'Can I give you a starter?' If they say yes, say: 'Try starting with: The most important reason is...' That is all. They fill in the rest. Most students who get the first four words going find that the next sentence comes more easily. The starter is the ignition, not the engine."

Explain when starters are used in class versus when students write without them

"In class, I use sentence starters during the introductory phase of a new writing type. Once students have practiced the structure five to ten times, I expect them to write without the starters. At that point the syntax is internalized and the starter becomes a hindrance rather than a scaffold. If your student says their teacher wants them to write without starters now, that is a sign of progress, not a removal of support."

Include a reference list of starters organized by purpose

A short reference list organized by writing purpose is more useful than a random collection. "Starters for evidence: 'This is supported by...' 'According to the text...' Starters for comparison: 'Similarly...' 'In contrast...' Starters for conclusion: 'Taken together, these examples show...' 'The most compelling evidence is...' A list like this at the kitchen table is a writing support families can reach for on any night of the year."

Note the relationship to academic vocabulary

"Sentence starters teach academic vocabulary in context. A student who uses 'The evidence suggests' twenty times over the course of a unit is learning that phrase as a functional tool. Academic language is acquired through repeated use in meaningful contexts, not through memorizing vocabulary lists."

Daystage newsletters with a linked sentence starter reference card are among the highest-value writing resources a teacher can send home. The barrier to use is minimal and the payoff at homework time is immediate.