Having just gone through the first drafts of the paragraphs of my level three writing classes, I have noticed that many of the students, rather than connecting two clauses into one sentence, are putting in a full stop and then starting a new sentence with ‘and, so, but etc’.
I used this activity to gently remind them how to connect clauses:
Directions
Before class cut up the sentence halves.
1. Distribute random halves to students, making sure you have the correct number of sentences for the number of students in the class. If you have an odd number, a pair of students could act as one.
2. The students stand up and try to find the classmate with the other half of their sentence.
3. When they have found their other half they should sit down together and re-write the sentence using ‘and, but, so, because.’
4. When finished they should check with you and then attempt to re-write the other sentences on the sheet in a similar fashion.
5. When all students have finished, go through the sentences together. This could also be an opportunity to elicit alternatives such as ‘although, however etc’
Notes
The sentences are a bit dull as they are so feel free to re-write them up with a bit of humour or something.
clause connecting Level 3 Writing
4 comments ↓
Ben,
Thanks for this. I’ve noticed the same thing, and as one of the goals of level 3 writing seems to be accuracy at the sentence level, this should be a nice little activity to get them up and thinking.
Let me know any otehr stuff you’re doing ;) Maybe we could share a few lessons.
Damon
Thanks Ben,
If people work on this in Level 3, it will be a big help for the students that go on to EAP. I might even use this with my EAP class.
Ted
Thanks to you both.
Damon, I will be putting more stuff up on OEKS over the next few weeks.
Ted, If you use the activity let me know how it went, and if you have any suggestions as to how it could be developed/ improved.
Ben,
Many thanks. I tried this out in class today–it went very well and generated a lot of discussion on different ways to combine sentences.
Dan
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