This sentence combiningsentence variety worksheet is suitable for 8th 12th grade. Four sentence types lesson teach students about the four types of sentences. Twelve assignments every middle school student should write page 81. Sections of this module marked with an asterisk should be completed by learners wanting to complete the baueng 6. Some of the worksheets for this concept are sentence variety the length of sentences within the, sentence variety work, sentence variety structure, sentence variety, sentence variety exercise 4, sentence variety exercise, sentence variety work, sentence variety v conjunctive adverbs. English sentences use a limited number of patterns as well. Sentence variety exercise 9 participial phrases present participial phrases. To avoid the choppiness of a series of simple sentences.
Write the combined sentence on your own sheet of paper. In effect, create a noun phrase that describes another noun. When you put the two together, you have a complex sentence. Following the examples above, come up with different sentences. Sentence variety can be introduced to the beginning of sentences by starting a sentence with an adverb, starting a sentence with a prepositional phrase, or by inverting the subject and verb.
At the bottom of these sentence combining exercises, youll see a link to a document with the original paragraphs from which we created these exercises. Sentence combiningsentence variety worksheet for 8th. Sentence imitating write a sentence similar in structure to a provided model e. Combine each set of simple sentences into a compound or a complex sentence. Sentence variety is important, particularly in longer documents, for a couple of reasons. After each lesson, you may want to stop and revise your own writing, or you may want to read several lessons in one sitting and then revise your work. Academic and career skills top tips sentence structure. Varying the length, rhythm and structure of sentences are three ways to create variety and interest in your writing. Combining sentences not only lends variety to your writing but also helps the reader to follow the direction of your argument smoothly.
Combining or joining sentences can convey your ideas more fluidly. Too many sentences with the same structure and length can grow monotonous for readers. Long sentences work well for incorporating a lot of information, and short sentences can often maximize crucial points. In a composition, sentence variety refers to the practice of varying the length and structure of sentences to avoid monotony and provide appropriate emphasis. It takes a human ear to know when and why sentence variety is needed rules for writers, 2009. Building skills through reading and writing by deborah dean sentence combining occurs in two different ways. Tiered sentence combining tillamook bay community college. Writing is composed of various portions including the audience, the purpose, and the method or style. Sentence combining tillamook bay community college. As the students work, create a poster with the following information and examples to help them with this exercise. Underline subjects, circle predicates, and doubleunderline objects. Combine ideas, using modifiers, relative clauses, or appositives, to achieve sentence variety. Make one strong sentence by combining two sentences. Varying sentence style and structure can also reduce repetition and add emphasis.
Students should then write their own paragraphs, including at least one of each of the three types of sentences. Make the following sentences into one compound sentence using coordinating conjunctions and commas. Weve posted the originals for comparison not correction. Adding sentence variety to prose can give it life and rhythm. This simple worksheet serves as a frame for sentence variety practice. Those elements determine the style or the genre of the document. The pirate captain sang a sea shanty on his pirate ship.
Using different types of sentences allows you to highlight different relationships between ideas and to add variety to your writing. You simply cannot write properly without understanding sentence structure. Sentence variety is extremely important when it comes to learning the written word. Subjects, objects, and predicates with pirates worksheet part one. Use conjunctive adverbs to join independent clauses and show the logical connection between them. Improving sentences via sentence combining instruction bruce saddler when i first began teaching writing in middle school my temptation was to believe that any sentence level writing instruction was a waste of time. In this chapter, you will learn the five basic english sentence patterns. This web page discusses how to teach sentence variety to students in a laboratory or design course. There is a subject and a verb that expresses a complete thought. Identify the following sentences as simple, compound, complex, or compoundcomplex. The most important thing you will derive from using a variety of sentence types is the shifts in tone that will result. They generally begin with a subject followed by a verb and may end with an object. Sentence variety exercises free download as word doc.
Students can revise sentences and then use this exercise to make their own writing more evocative. Using a variety of sentence patterns to create a desired effect. Sentence variety worksheet collins education associates. Have students first revise an alreadywritten paragraph with only simple sentences, and have students include sentence variety.
Part one once you have mastered writing a clear, grammatically correct simple sentence a. Identify independent clauses andor dependent clauses in each sentence. Even though the original writers are professional writers, there is no right way to put these sentences together. Variety of sentence structure and type liberates your text from the monotone. The students like the subjects which contain practical exercises, and they dislike the theoretical ones. This file includes a practice assessment after the lesson. A nonrestrictive present participial phrase contains nonessential information and is set off by a comma or commas. As you write, you are writing for a specific group of people and have a specific goal in mind. It expresses a single complete thought that can stand on its own.
The noun phrase appositive usually goes in the middle of a sentence between two commas. Sentence variety exercises sentence linguistics preposition. Unity means that the paragraph makes one main point and sticks to that point. Use this worksheet to practice adding vivid details to sentences. The big, hairy dog with sharp teeth barked at the mailman. Though each lesson is designed to be completed in about 20 minutes, the pace at which you approach the lessons is up to you. The information provided is followed by a practice opportunity to. Sentence variety adding sentence variety to your writing will do three things. A simple sentence only has a subject and a complete predicate. Add variety to your learners writing by focusing on clauses and compound sentences. Sentence variety practice worksheet by an odyssey of.
Subject verb the basic subjectverb sentence pattern consists of a subject and a verb. This resource presents methods for adding sentence variety and complexity to writing that may sound repetitive or boring. A conjunction that makes an independent clause into a dependent clause. Word tiers tiered sentence combining is tiered in two ways. He also liked feeding his parrot, swashbuckling, and pillaging. One is that a lack of sentence variety will exhaust the audience and prevent the audience from finishing the document. Complex sentences sentence combining four types of. The independent clause is tim went to the gym to exercise. Improving sentences via sentence combining instruction. A clause in a complex sentence that cannot stand alone as a complete sentence and that functions within the sentence as a noun or adjective or adverb. Coherence means that the ideas in the paragraph are logically connected and easy to follow.
Challenge your writers to improve their writing by introducing them to 10 strategies they can use to vary their sentence structures. Simple, compound, complex, and compoundcomplex simple sentences a simple sentence contains a subject and a verb. Grammar checkers are of little help with sentence variety, says diana hacker. Martha presented a new and controversial marketing campaign, but when her. You should leave now, or you will have to wait until tomorrow for the next train. With openended sentence work, students are given a set of short, simple sentences often called kernel sentences which they are asked to combine in any way they can. This resource is designed to help you to construct sentences accurately, so that your meaning is clear. Subjects, objects, and predicates with pirates worksheet. Define sentence variety as sentences that start and end differently and are of varying lengths. The distinctive quality of speech or writing created by the selection and arrangement of words and figures of speech. Sections are divided into general tips for varying structure, a discussion of sentence types, and specific parts of speech which can aid in sentence variety. Study the two example pictures with sentences below. Vary the length of sentences within the body of a paragraph. Conjunctive adverbs provide similar logic to coordinating and subordinating conjunctions but generally are more formal.
Ezra pound said that writing aspires to music, which is the art of arts. Sentence variety worksheet often in english, you can use different sentences with different grammar to say the same thing. Surely by eighth grade i thought, my students must have mastered the ability to create interesting sentences. Students either create their own simple sentences, or use sentences supplied by their teacher, and then practice creating more complex sentences using the following five skills. The second grammar module, parts of the sentence, presents information and exercises to accompany the objectives of baueng 6. Displaying top 8 worksheets found for sentence variety. Aug 8, 2014 this sentence combiningsentence variety worksheet is suitable for 8th 12th grade. This doesnt mean that you have to do the old sentence diagramming technique every time you write, and it doesnt mean that you have to be able to name every kind of sentence that you write. Sentence unscrambling unscramble sentence chunks to make logical sentences d. Tiered sentence combining offers a total of 48 student exercises. Direction means that the paragraph has a strong topic sentence that states the main idea and sets the course that the paragraph will follow.