Now while using a well-placed sentence fragment can be a good thing, the better thing is that students are intentional in their use of them. Afterwards, students can examine the effects of the different types of sentences. Start with a fragment, then a complete sentence, then another fragment, and so on. Have students highlight their written work in two different colors to reinforce what the fragment sentence is in their work.Īnother option is a pass-the-paper writing activity where students write dialogue that “should have” been in the original text. Students can write a scene between characters that is not in the original text by using a mix of fragments and complete sentences. If you have a short story or novel study unit that needs some revision, use a lesson on fragments and complete sentences. Grammar has long been taught as something to hate, a series of rules we must all follow begrudgingly, so let's turn that idea on it's head and have some fun with it. I am a big proponent of having fun with grammar because your students won't expect it! It’s important that students see that fragments are a writing tool that they can actually use in their writing depending on the purpose of their writing. This can build students’ writing skills and create a database of student-selected mentor sentences for future use! What’s more, teaching this lesson early in the year provides students with something to look for in their own writing as well as in the texts they’ll read in class. It can provide a review of key ideas - subjects and verbs - and then develop their writing skills through a focused lesson on fragments and complete sentences. Incorporating grammar into your lessons from the beginning of the school year will set students up for success for the rest of the year. When To Teach Fragments and Complete SentencesĪny time is a great time to teach sentence fragments because it's something that most high school students struggle with to some degree. They might rewrite or extend a scene and use the two types of sentences. The films can be an inspiration for students to write their own fragments and complete sentences as pairings. This post with 3 Excellent Short Films for Teens includes short films that can be used. Using short films is another great way to engage students and to focus on grammar too. In doing this they really have to spend some brain power thinking about their subjects, verbs, and whether a complete thought is expressed.Ī few go-to places for great pictures for writing prompts are the National Geographic Photography archive or the New York Times’ “What’s Going On in This Picture?” weekly posting. You can follow this up by giving students engaging writing prompts (such a video or picture prompts), and have them describe the prompt using only fragments, and then using only complete sentences. Step 3: Have Students Practice Writing Fragments Intentionally As Well As Complete Sentences This set of carefully-selected sentences shows students what action and linking verbs are, and how great writers use them in their own writing. You can check out my free unit featuring mentor sentences to review verbs and to encourage students to use action verbs when possible. Students might be familiar but a refresher is a good idea. Step 1: Review Subjects and VerbsĪs a first step, review subjects and verbs. Using mentor sentences applies to so many different grammar lessons, and fragments are no exception! Mentor sentences really are a game-changer in that embedding grammar lessons into your teaching routine will embed grammar knowledge into your students! So, let’s get to it. How To Teach Fragments and Complete Sentences What is important though is that students know there are times when they can and can’t use them depending on the audience and purpose of their writing. These sentences are well-suited to dialogue, personal narratives, or other forms that call for a more conversational tone. Sentence fragments don’t always have to be avoided or corrected. Sometimes including incomplete thoughts in writing is fine. They might not know that a sentence fragment means a subject or verb is missing and therefore it’s an incomplete thought. Students might not even recognize that they’ve written a fragmented sentence. Often students write a series of sentences and inevitably there’s a fragment included because they might view the whole group of sentences rather than each individual sentence as a complete thought. Why You Need To Spend Time Teaching Fragments
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