Sentence Variety. Grade Level: 4-6. pages 1 2 pages 3 4 pages 5 page 6 page 7 page 8 9

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1 Sentence Variety Grade Level: 4-6 Teacher Guidelines Instructional Pages Activity Page Practice Page Homework Page Answer Key pages 1 2 pages 3 4 pages 5 page 6 page 7 page 8 9

2 Classroom Procedure: Approximate Grade Level: Read the following before and after paragraphs to the students: 2. BEFORE: I walked to school. It was raining. I got wet. It was uncomfortable. I dried by lunchtime. The day went faster. I walked home. It rained again. I got wet. I arrived home. I took a shower. I sat and relaxed. I watched TV. 3. AFTER: I walked quickly to school in the pouring rain. I was soaking wet. It was very uncomfortable for me all morning until lunchtime when I was finally dry. The afternoon went by much faster. After school, I walked home again in the pouring rain, and of course, before I arrived home, I was all wet. I jumped in the shower. The rest of the evening I sat and relaxed while watching TV. 4. Ask: What do you notice about the two paragraphs? 5. Allow for responses and discussion. Most students should recognize the variety of sentences, and the second paragraph is more interesting due to this sentence variety. 6. Distribute Sentence Variety content pages. Read and review the information with the students. Find other examples to use with the class. Use the additional resources to enhance understanding. 7. Distribute Activity page. Read and review the instructions. Pair students or randomly redistribute Simple Sentence short stories once they are completed. 8. Allow students time to rewrite the short stories using sentence variety. Once completed, students will share the before and after stories to the class. 9. Distribute Practice page. Check and review the students responses. Some responses may vary from the answer key. 10. Distribute the Homework page. Review the instructions and compare it to taking apart an engine or a machine to see how it works. Remind students to use a dictionary if necessary. 11. The next day, allow students to share the rewritten homework stories. 12. In closing, ask students when it might be okay to use mostly short sentences, and variety may not matter. (Advertising may be an exception, informational text, etc.) 13. Allow for responses and discussion. 14. Ask students to write before and after three-sentence paragraphs about themselves. 15. Allow students to share the paragraphs with the class. Objectives: The students will be able to vary sentence patterns for meaning, reader interest, and style. Common Core State Standards: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.3.A CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.5.3.A CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.6.3.A Class Sessions (45 minutes): At least 2 class sessions Teaching Worksheets: Materials/ Sentence Variety content page, Activity page, Practice page, Homework page Student Supplies: writing paper, handouts Prepare Ahead of Time: Distribute scratch paper or writing paper for students to use for rough drafts for some of the work. Copy handouts. Options for Lesson: Make extra copies of the activity page as additional practice for the students. Use other popular stories for additional homework. Compare non-fiction writing to fictional writing with the students to identify any differences in sentence variety. Review simple, compound, and complex sentences with the class. 2

3 Teacher Notes The lesson stresses the importance of sentence variety in writing. The students will understand how to write a better essay or story by simply changing the length or style of the sentences. It is expected most of the students will understand the difference between the three types of sentences: simple, complex, and compound. A subsequent or future lesson on that topic is suggested if necessary. Additional Resources: CONTENT: WORKSHEETS: VIDEOS: (2 min) (2 min) (45 min-very detailed) (10 min) (5 min-sentence types) (3 min) 3

4 Sentence Variety Variety is the spice of life. It is an old saying which means doing different things in life helps make life more interesting. When people eat different foods, they may add spices like salt or pepper to add flavor giving the food a better taste. Variety in your writing is just as important and can help your writing become more interesting too. Sentence variety means using various sentence lengths, patterns, and rhythms. It will help your writing flow, sound better to the reader, enhance ideas and thoughts, and keep the interest of the reader. Sometimes just adding a few words or taking away some words turns good writing into great writing. Sentence variety will help you become a better writer. USING SENTENCE VARIETY Do not use all simple sentences: They went to the mall. They ate dinner. They took a drive. They came home. Two problems: Every sentence begins with the same word. The sentences are simple and boring. Combine simple sentences: They went to the mall and had dinner, then they took a long drive. Later, they came home. Much better. Four simple sentences have been turned into two sentences. Notice the word Later has been added as well. Using transitions is helpful. Use transitions with sentences: First, they went to the mall and had dinner, and then after a while, they took a long drive. Later on, they came home. The transitions increase variety. ; ; Use adverbs, adjectives, and prepositional phrases: In the evening, they went to the suburban mall across town and had a relaxing dinner. After the delicious meal, they took a long drive out in the country before arriving home late at night. Note the new amount of detail. 4

5 Use -ing and -ed verb forms: The team practiced all day. The team won the game. Change it to: Having practiced all day, the team won the game. OR: The team celebrated in the streets singing. The team was excited about the win. Change it to: Excited about their win, the team celebrated in the streets singing. Use appositives which rename nouns in sentences: Mr. Johnson is my favorite coach. Mr. Johnson helped me with my pitching. Change to: Mr. Johnson, my favorite coach, helped me with my pitching. Use clauses to combine sentences: Here are a few examples with a clause: Mr. Johnson, who is my favorite coach, helped me with my pitching. The pizza, which is the best in the town, can only be found at Mario s. I saw a dog that had a bad leg hopping down the road. Using clauses is similar to using appositives. There are many different ways to use variety in your writing. Another great way to think of sentence variety is by using short, medium-sized, and long sentences. Mix them up in your writing. Your writing will become more interesting to the reader, plus you will become a better writer and speaker. 5

6 Activity Name Date Instructions 1. Write a short story using simple sentences in the first box. 2. Your story should be at least ten sentences or more. 3. Once completed, you will exchange your short story with another student, who will then rewrite it, effectively combining the simple sentences in the second box. Write the short story using simple sentences: Rewrite the above short story using a variety of sentences, combining them where needed: 6

7 Practice Name Date Follow the directions (You may rewrite them using one or more sentences.) 1. Rewrite and effectively combine the simple sentences: Eva likes soccer. Eva likes softball. Eva is an athlete. Eva stays busy. 2. Rewrite and effectively combine the sentences using transitions: The team played the game. The team won the game. They went out to celebrate. It was a long night. 3. Rewrite and effectively combine the sentences using adverbs, adjectives, and propositional phrases: I woke up in the morning. I ate breakfast. I went to work. I went to lunch. I had a hamburger. I went home early. I went to dinner. 4. Rewrite and effectively combine the sentences using -ing and -ed verb forms: John stayed at the beach all day. John got a bad sunburn. 5. Rewrite and effectively combine the sentences using an appositive: Charlotte is my best friend. Charlotte lives down the street. 6. Rewrite and effectively combine the sentences using clauses: I have two hours of homework. I have math homework. I have science homework. My teacher is very demanding. My teacher is also nice. 7

8 Homework Name Date Sometimes it is helpful to undo the variety of sentences in a story to understand great writing. Rewrite the stories using mostly short simple sentences. You may change some of the words. The Boy Who Cried Wolf A shepherd-boy, who watched a flock of sheep near a village, brought out the villagers three or four times by crying out, "Wolf! Wolf!" and when his neighbors came to help him, laughed at them for their pains. The Wolf, however, did truly come at last. The Shepherd-boy, now really alarmed, shouted in an agony of terror: "Pray, do come and help me; the Wolf is killing the sheep"; but no one paid any heed to his cries, nor rendered any assistance. The Wolf, having no cause of fear, at his leisure lacerated or destroyed the whole flock. The Miser A miser sold all that he had and bought a lump of gold, which he buried in a hole in the ground by the side of an old wall and went to look at daily. One of his workmen observed his frequent visits to the spot and decided to watch his movements. He soon discovered the secret of the hidden treasure, and digging down, came to the lump of gold, and stole it. The Miser, on his next visit, found the hole empty and began to tear his hair and to make loud lamentations. A neighbor, seeing him overcome with grief and learning the cause, said, "Pray do not grieve so; but go and take a stone, and place it in the hole, and fancy that the gold is still lying there. It will do you quite the same service; for when the gold was there, you had it not, as you did not make the slightest use of it." 8

9 Practice Name Answer Key Date Follow the directions (You may rewrite them using one or more sentences.) 1. Rewrite and effectively combine the simple sentences: Eva likes soccer. Eva likes softball. Eva is an athlete. Eva stays busy. Eva stays busy as an athlete and likes soccer and softball. 2. Rewrite and effectively combine the sentences using transitions: The team played the game. The team won the game. They went out to celebrate. It was a long night. First, the team played and won the game, and then they went out to celebrate. It was a long night. 3. Rewrite and effectively combine the sentences using adverbs, adjectives, and propositional phrases: I woke up in the morning. I ate breakfast. I went to work. I went to lunch. I had a hamburger. I went home early. I went to dinner. At 6:00 in the morning, I woke up quickly and ate a breakfast of bacon and eggs. Next, I went to work and then ate a light lunch of a salad and ice tea. I went to home early, around 3:00, and then went out to a late dinner later that night. 4. Rewrite and effectively combine the sentences using -ing or -ed verb forms: John stayed at the beach all day. John got a bad sunburn. Having stayed at the beach all day, John got a bad sunburn. 5. Rewrite and effectively combine the sentences using an appositive: Charlotte is my best friend. Charlotte lives down the street. Charlotte, my best friend, lives down the street. 6. Rewrite and effectively combine the sentences using clauses: I have two hours of homework. I have math homework. I have science homework. My teacher is very demanding. My teacher is also nice. I have math and science homework, which will take about two hours. My teacher, who is very demanding, is also nice. 9

10 Homework Name Answer Key Date Sometimes it is helpful to undo the variety of sentences in a story to understand great writing. Rewrite the stories using mostly short simple sentences. You may change some of the words. The Boy Who Cried Wolf A shepherd-boy, who watched a flock of sheep near a village, brought out the villagers three or four times by crying out, "Wolf! Wolf!" and when his neighbors came to help him, laughed at them for their pains. The Wolf, however, did truly come at last. The Shepherd-boy, now really alarmed, shouted in an agony of terror: "Pray, do come and help me; the Wolf is killing the sheep"; but no one paid any heed to his cries, nor rendered any assistance. The Wolf, having no cause of fear, at his leisure lacerated or destroyed the whole flock. A shepherd boy watch sheep. He watched sheep near a village. He cried Wolf! Wolf! three or four times. The villagers came out. His neighbors wanted to help him. The boy laughed at them. The wolf came. The boy was alarmed. He cried out in terror. Help me! The wolf is killing the sheep. No one payed heed. No one gave him assistance. The wolf had no fear. The wolf killed the sheep. The whole flock was destroyed. The Miser A miser sold all that he had and bought a lump of gold, which he buried in a hole in the ground by the side of an old wall and went to look at daily. One of his workmen observed his frequent visits to the spot and decided to watch his movements. He soon discovered the secret of the hidden treasure, and digging down, came to the lump of gold, and stole it. The Miser, on his next visit, found the hole empty and began to tear his hair and to make loud lamentations. A neighbor, seeing him overcome with grief and learning the cause, said, "Pray do not grieve so; but go and take a stone, and place it in the hole, and fancy that the gold is still lying there. It will do you quite the same service; for when the gold was there, you had it not, as you did not make the slightest use of it." A miser sold everything he owned. He bought a lump of coal. He buried it in a hole. He buried in the ground by a wall. He wanted to see it daily. A worker saw what he did. A worker watched him often. The worker discovered the hidden treasure. The worker dug a hole. The worker stole the gold. The Miser visited the place. There was an empty hole. The Miser cried out. A neighbor saw the Miser crying out. The miser said, Get a stone and put it in the hole. Pretend it is still there. When you visit, it will be like it is still there. 10