Bookmark

Sign up or login to use the bookmarking feature.

11 Combining Sentences

Page
081
from
Writers Express

Start-Up Activity

Have students write five short sentences about a topic currently being studied. Then ask them to combine some or all of the short sentences into longer ones. They should try to connect the sentences together with a comma and an and, but, or, nor, for, so, or yet. Display some of these sentences for discussion.

 

Think About It

“It’s good practice to imitate your favorite writers. All writers do that at first.”

—J. Scieszka

State Standards Covered in This Chapter

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.4.1

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.4.1.E

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.5.3

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.5.3.A

LAFS Covered in This Chapter

LAFS.4.L.1.1

LAFS.5.L.2.3

TEKS Covered in This Chapter

110.6.b.1.C

110.6.b.11.D

110.6.b.11.D.vi

110.7.b.11.D

110.7.b.1.C

110.7.b.11.C

TEKS Covered in This Chapter

Page 082 from Writers Express

Combining with Key Words

Help students see that sometimes a single word or idea from one sentence can be moved to another sentence to combine them. This kind of sentence combining cuts out a great deal of repetition and makes writing more concise and punchy.

Teaching tip: Have students cross out words that are repeated in two or more sentences and then combine the remaining parts.

State Standard Reference:
LAFS Standard:
LAFS.4.L.1.1
TEKS Standard:
110.6.b.1.C, 110.6.b.11.D
NE ELA Standard:
LA 4.2.1.h

Related Resource Tags

Click to view a list of tags that tie into other resources on our site

Level:
Grade 4Grade 5
Mode:
Writing Basics
English Language Arts:
Qualities of WritingIdeasConventions

Page 083 from Writers Express

Combining with Phrases

This page shows that moving a phrase from one sentence to another is a form of sentence combining. Again, have them cross out the parts that are repetitive, and the key phrase will remain.

You can also help your student combine using compound subjects or compound verbs.

State Standard Reference:
LAFS Standard:
LAFS.4.L.1.1
TEKS Standard:
110.6.b.1.C, 110.6.b.11.D
NE ELA Standard:
LA 4.2.1.h

Related Resource Tags

Click to view a list of tags that tie into other resources on our site

Level:
Grade 4Grade 5
Mode:
Writing Basics
English Language Arts:
Qualities of WritingIdeasConventions

Page 084 from Writers Express

Combining with Longer Sentences

Use this page to teach students how to connect related sentences in compound and complex forms.

  • Compound sentences are two sentences joined with a comma and a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet). Make sure students include both the comma and the conjunction. Lack of a comma is a comma error. Lack of a conjunction is a comma splice (another error). Lack of both is a run-on sentence.
  • Complex sentences are formed when a sentence is joined to a dependent clause. A dependent clause has a subject and a verb, but it can't stand on its own as a complete thought. One type of dependent clause starts with a subordinating conjunction (after, because, whenever, and so on). The other type starts with a relative pronoun (who, whose, which, or that).
State Standard Reference:
LAFS Standard:
LAFS.4.L.1.1
TEKS Standard:
110.6.b.1.C, 110.6.b.11.D
NE ELA Standard:
LA 4.2.1.h

Related Resource Tags

Click to view a list of tags that tie into other resources on our site

Level:
Grade 4Grade 5
Mode:
Writing Basics
English Language Arts:
Qualities of WritingIdeasConventions