Teaching Compound Sentences: A Lesson Plan for Success
An Accidental Discovery
After reading 200 essays with nothing but simple sentences, I curled up in a ball and lay in the corner, wailing. I knew I had to do something to end the misery. I pulled out my Chemistry for English Teachers Manual, opened it to page 23, set the graded essays on my desk, and began mixing a potion that would destroy all paper fibers within 236-feet. Luckily, the recipe used the word combine twelve times, which gave me an idea. I called my Mom, told her to save me some leftovers, and grabbed my lesson plan book.
I had work to do. I had to come up with a lesson plan about sentence combining:
Read and Display a Paragraph with Only Simple Sentences
Even though I had just read 200 horribly written essays with nothing but simple sentences, I still had to come up with a horrible paragraph of my own, not wanting to single out any particular student. Save yourself the trouble and use my horrible paragraph (not one single compound sentence, complex sentence, infinitive phrase, or relative pronoun), if you wish. My feelings won’t be hurt.
Plan ahead when visiting Big Bear Lake, California. You don’t want to sleep at a rest stop. You don’t want to use railroad ties for firewood. Big Bear Lake is near San Diego. It is near Los Angeles. It is near Las Vegas. There are many campsites. There are lodges. There are RV parks. They fill up fast. There are many hiking trails. Bring sturdy shoes. Sandals are not optimal for hiking. Many pro athletes live there. There’s a lake at Big Bear Lake, California. Big Bear Lake is at 7,000 feet above sea level. The water is cold. Swimming is discouraged. Boating is encouraged. Fishing is encouraged. Kayaking is encouraged.
Write the above paragraph on the board and read and discuss it with the class. Show them the following suggestions for sentence combining.
Ways to Combine Sentences
Take two sentences and make a compound sentence
Example: Water at Big Bear Lake is cold**, and** swimming is discouraged.
Insert modifiers, adjectives or adverbs, to combine sentences
Example: Swimming in the cold water is discouraged
Use a prepositional phrase to combine sentences
Example: Near Los Angeles, San Diego, and Las Vegas, Big Bear, California is easily accessible.
List items in a series to combine sentences
Example: P_ark rangers encourage boating, fishing, and kayaking_
Use a subordinating conjunction to combine sentences:
Example: Unless you want to sleep at a rest stop using railroad ties as firewood, plan ahead.
Use a dependent clause beginning with a relative pronoun (which, that, whom, whose, or who):
Example: Big Bear Lake, which sits 7,000 feet above sea level, is home to great fishing, kayaking, and boating.
Use participial phrases to combine sentences:
Examples: Planning ahead eliminates the need to sleep at rest stops and the need to use railroad ties as firewood.
- Instruct students to combine sentences using the above techniques.
- Paragraph challenges motivate students to write well.
- As groups of students share their revisions, have them identify the technique. Write the examples (not the ones I provided) on the board as you review.
* This lesson was inspired by Mini Lessons for Revision by Susan Geye, 1997, Absey & Co. Spring, TX.
References
- Teacher experience, unless otherwise noted.
This post is part of the series: Better Grammar Equals Better Writing
Grammar builds the foundation for good writing: the better the grammar, the better the writing.
- Teaching Students How to Combine Sentences and Improve their Writing
- Lesson Plan: Eliminate Weak Verb-Adverb Combinations
- Lesson Plan: Eliminate “To Be” Verbs
- Lesson Plan: Write With Strong Verbs
- Lesson Plan: Active Voice vs. Passive Voice
- Revising Pronouns and Antecedents with this Lesson Plan
- Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement Made Easy
- Lesson Plan: Understanding Independent and Dependent Clauses
- Teach Your Kids to Eliminate Fragments and Run-ons in Their Writing
- Lesson Plan: Use Parts of Speech to Improve Sentence Beginnings