The Princess Bride Syntax Building Activities

Don't stop at just watching the movie, grab these syntax-building activities to continue the learning and help students move beyond simple sentences and build the syntactic awareness that drives reading comprehension.

This resource includes four engaging sentence expansion activities that make grammar meaningful, not mechanical. Perfect for grades 6–10, these activities guide students to manipulate sentence structure while reinforcing reading and writing skills aligned with Scarborough’s Reading Rope and The Science of Reading.

What’s Included

• Activity 1: Scrambled Sentences
• Students unscramble a simple sentence designed to help them understand characters from the story.
• Activity 2: Expand It!
• Students start with a simple base sentence and expand it using the because, but, so method, learning how structure changes meaning and tone.
• Activity 3: Build a Better Sentence
• Students start with basic, 2-3 word sentences and gradually expand them by adding details through answering "W questions."
• Activity 4: Syntax Switch-Up
• Students rearrange, combine, and expand sentences in a hands-on card sort to highlight how syntax affects emphasis and clarity, and to see how grammar works in context.

Skills Covered

Sentence structure (simple, compound, complex)

Phrases and clauses (prepositional, appositive, infinitive)

Sentence variety and fluency

Syntax awareness for comprehension and writing

Why It Works

Sentence-level work is one of the most powerful, and often overlooked, parts of the Science of Reading for secondary students. These activities help students see how sentence structure creates meaning, improving both their analytical reading and written expression.