Happy April!
1. Self-Starter: Sentence Combining
Sometimes a long sentence is best.
Sometimes a short sentence is best.
Sometimes a middle-sized sentence is best.
Your writing will be best if you use a variety of sentence lengths.
To fix choppy-sentence-itis, use sentence-combining.
Sentence Combining
Students completed a Sentence Combining Worksheet. They learned about combining sentences by taking a key word (adverb, adjective, or participle) from a short sentence to combine with another short sentence.
Worksheet -- Examples and Practice
For example:1. "I passed my English test. I passed it yesterday." (adverb)
This could be changed to "Yesterday, I passed my English test."
Now you try it:
1Y. Katniss volunteered to take Prim's place in the Hunger Games. She did it quickly.
Combine the sentences to change it to ____________________________________
For example:
2. "Ella did the exercises with ease. The exercises were difficult." (adjective)
This could be changed to "Ella did the difficult exercises with ease."
Now you try it:
2Y. The people in the Capital are excited and eager each year to watch the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games are deadly.
Combine the sentences to change it to _____________________________
For example:
3. "Joe's dog scares people. Joe's dog snarls." (participle)
This could be changed to "Joe's snarling dog scares people."
Here is another example of this one:
"Holding my cat is comforting. My cat purrs."
This could be changed to "Holding my purring cat is comforting."
Now you try it: (Notice that you need to change a verb into an adjective ending in -ing.)
3Y. The audience is impressed with Peeta and Katniss's fiery entrance. The crowds cheer.
Combine the sentences to change it to _____________________________
Here is the document for this exercise:
Sentence Combining 1.docx
___________________________________________
2.
What makes a good essay?
See and compare the two sample essays. What makes one better than the other? After clicking on this link, click on the Download tab to open the document on your computer.
D20387-01TraitsLessonsIdeas.pdf
What makes a good essay?
more detail
the reader can see
the reader can hear -- including dialogue
It makes the reader feel and think
__________________________________________________
for sentence combining: After this and other lessons, students will be able to correct sentence problems such as run-ons and fragments, and will be able to use more variety in sentence structure and length.
for looking at essays: Students will be reminded of what they need to do to create a quality essay.
this post originally published 3/27/12
