It’s a seductive idea: If children can master sentence construction, the rest of writing will magically and naturally fall into place. Some advocates even suggest it’s the best way to teach writing. But is this claim really backed by research evidence?
Let’s take a closer look.
What’s the claim?
“The best way to teach pupils to write is by teaching them to master sentences.”
This is a bold assertion – one that sounds simple and efficient. But bold claims demand strong evidence.
What does the research say?
There is good and growing evidence that sentence-level instruction can significantly improve pupils’ writing, particularly for novices or struggling writers. This is why we provide schools with our eBooks:
- Sentence-level instruction for 3-11 year olds [LINK]
- Sentence-building intervention mini-projects [LINK]
In terms of research, we certainly have:
- Graham & Perin’s (2007) influential meta-analysis found that sentence-level instruction was one of the most effective strategies for improving adolescent writing.
- Myhill et al. (2012) demonstrated that teaching grammar in context, with a focus on how sentence-level choices shape meaning, can boost writing quality — especially when connected to meaningful writing projects.
So yes – helping pupils gain control over sentence construction can make a real difference, especially when it’s taught explicitly, meaningfully, and within the context of purposeful writing.
So what’s the problem?
The issue lies in the absolutism of the claim.
Firstly, not all writing involves writing sentences (Rosen 2025). Secondly, writing is a layered process. As the DfE Writing Framework cautions:
“[Pupils] may be turned off writing, if teaching is focused too heavily on learning grammatical concepts, out of context and with little understanding of their potential for expressive impact.”
Sentence-level instruction is important — but it’s just one part of the picture. As our Writing Map shows, effective writing instruction also involves:
- Teaching pupils how to plan and organise their ideas
- Understanding genre and audience
- Building cohesion across paragraphs
- Developing voice, structure, and style
- Encouraging revision and reflection
This isn’t just opinion – it’s backed by the science of teaching writing [LINK].
Focusing solely on sentences may lead to technically correct sentence writing but their sentences will lack substance, coherence, or purpose. In other words: pupils might write neat sentences, but struggle to say anything meaningful with them [LINK].
The verdict
Partially true. Yes, sentence-level instruction is valuable. Yes, it’s supported by research. But no, it’s not the best way – at least not in isolation.
What should teachers do instead?
- Teach sentence construction in context, as part of authentic class writing projects. As the DfE’s Writing Framework points out: “It is worth emphasising that grammar teaching will improve writing only if pupils apply what they have been taught to their writing.”
- Combine sentence-level instruction with teaching about idea generation, planning, genre, and audience.
- Encourage pupils to think about how and why they make writing choices – not just whether they’re grammatically correct.
Sentence-level instruction is a powerful tool – but writing instruction is at its best when it treats writing as the rich, dynamic process it truly is.
Recommended further reading:
- The components of effective sentence-level instruction [LINK]
- Guidance on teaching at the sentence-level [LINK]
- Sentence-level instruction: Our viewpoint [LINK]
- Guidance on what NOT to do when teaching at the sentence-level [LINK]
- Where’s the research on teaching at the sentence-level? [LINK]
- Andrews, R.,Torgerson, C., Beverton, S., Locke,T., Low, G., Robinson, A., and Zhu, D. (2006). The effect of grammar teaching on writing development. British Educational Research Journal, 32(1), 39–55.
- Fearn, L., and Farman, N. (1998). Writing Effectively: Helping Students Master the Conventions of Writing. London: Pearson.
- Graham, S., and Perin, D. (2007). Writing Next: Effective Strategies to Improve Writing of Adolescents In Middle School & High Schools.Washington, DC:Alliance For Excellent Education.
- Hudson, R. (2017). Grammar instruction. In Handbook of Writing Research, MacArthur, C., Graham, S., Fitzgerald, J. (Eds.) (pp. 288–300) (2nd Ed.). New York: Guildford Press.
- Kolln, M. (1996). Rhetorical grammar: A modification lesson. English Journal, 85(7), 25–31.
- Limpo, T., & Alves, R. (2013).Teaching planning or sentence-combining strategies: Effective SRSD interventions at different levels of written composition. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 38,328–341.
- Myhill, D. (2018). Grammar as a meaning-making resource for improving writing (Contribution to a special issue Working on Grammar at School in L1-Education: Empirical Research across Linguistic Regions). L1-Educational Studies Language and Literature, 18, 1–21.
- Saddler, B. (2019). Sentence combining. In Best Practices in Writing Instruction, Graham, S., MacArthur, C., and Hebert, M. (3rd Ed.) (pp. 240–261). New York: Guildford Press.
- Weaver, C., Bush, J., Anderson, J., and Bills, P. (2006). Grammar intertwined throughout the writing process: An inch wide and a mile deep. English Teaching: Practice & Critique, 5(1), 77–101.
- Wyse, D., and Torgerson, C. (2017). Experimental trials and ‘what works?’ In education: The case of grammar for writing. British Educational Research Journal, 43(6), 1019–1047.