Action Switch

This worksheet helps students in Grades 4, 5, and 6 deepen their understanding of grammar meaning, sentence construction, and preposition use by actively creating contrasting sentences. Learners select verbs from a provided list and write two sentences for each-one using by to show who performed the action and one using with to show what tool or instrument was used-making the impact of word choice clear and meaningful.

Learning Goals

• Using Prepositions to Change Meaning (Grades 4-6): Show how by identifies the agent of an action and with identifies the instrument.
• Sentence Construction Skills: Write complete, grammatically correct sentences that clearly convey different relationships.
• Writing for Clarity & Contrast: Compare paired sentences to understand how small grammar changes shift meaning.
• Active Grammar Application: Apply grammar rules through original writing rather than selection-based practice.

Instructional Benefits

• Teacher-Created Resource: Designed by educators to align with upper elementary ELA grammar and writing standards.
• Highly Interactive Format: Encourages students to make purposeful grammar choices while writing.
• Supports Creative Thinking: Allows flexibility in sentence content while reinforcing precise structure.
• Flexible Classroom Use: Ideal for grammar lessons, writing centers, small groups, homework, or enrichment.
• Low-Prep Printable: Easy to use in both classroom and homeschool environments.

This printable worksheet helps students gain confidence using by and with by showing how each preposition changes sentence meaning. By writing contrasting sentence pairs, learners strengthen grammar accuracy, clarity, and expressive control. Whether used in a classroom language arts block or a homeschool lesson, this resource supports precise language use, creative sentence building, and strong understanding of how grammar shapes meaning.

This worksheet is part of our by vs. with worksheets collection.