January 8th Agenda

1)
Brain Buzzer: Write this answer in
your notebook: What does the picture
above have to do with writing an essay?
2)
Learning target: I can use
sentence fluency in my writing,
3)
Discuss Brain buzzer
4)
Review word choice
5)
Sentence fluency: what is it? /
Handout
6)
4 sentence types review
7)
Practice, practice, practice

What problems do you notice in the

following paragraph? What is good
about the following paragraph?

I love Mondays. I love being at

school after being at home all
weekend. So fun school is to me.
School is amazing. It is so fun. I wish I
could live at school. I seriously do. I
think I want to get married in a school
cafeteria. Then we could eat crispy
delicious Frito pie. That would be cool.
Man, Mondays at school are
wonderfully amazingly epically
sensational.

Sentence fluency involves

making sure youre writing:
*DOESNT use awkward word
patterns that sound funny to the ear
when read aloud
*DOESNT contain redundancy
*DOES use sentences that have
different lengths.
*DOES use different types of
sentences. (Simple, Compound,
Complex)
*DOES make every effort, that in
each paragraph, No Two Sentences
Start the Same.
*DOES include figurative language
which ads a musical quality to the
writing

I love Mondays. I love being at

school after being at home all
weekend. So fun school is to me.
School is amazing. It is so fun. I wish I
could live at school. I seriously do. I
think I want to get married in a school
cafeteria. Then we could eat crispy
delicious Frito pie. That would be cool.
Man, Mondays at school are
wonderfully amazingly epically
sensational.
Everyone around me seems to hate
Mondays, but I dont. In fact, I think
Mondays are the greatest gift from
heaven above. I trudge through the

coma-inducing weekend at my house, and

I cant wait to walk through the front
doors of my Super School. If I had my
way, I would move out of the prison my
parents call home, and just live in my
school 24-7. It would be a dream come
true.

Sentence type review

Simple Sentence:
Independent clause (has subject
and predicate)
Ex: The dog raced down the road.
Compound Sentence:
Two independent clauses
separated with ; / , conjunction

Ex: I sprinted to school; I was late.

Ex: I sprinted to school, but I was
late.

Complex Sentence:
Dependent and independent
clause
Comma after dependent clause
only if dependent clause comes first
(Needs an AAAWWUBBIS word)
Ex: While I waited, the storm rolled
in.

Compound-Complex Sentence:
Two independent clauses and a
dependent clause
Usually needs a comma and
conjunction
Ex: While I waited, the storm rolled
in, and it began to rain heavily.

Fix
the
following
sentences
using
sentence flipping:

1 I stopped at Andys
this weekend.

2 I cried like a baby

while visiting with Mrs.
Sims.
3 I held my ears as the
TV blared.

4 Kristen
laughed
happily
when
she
opened her present.

Fix
the
sentences
appositives:

following
using

1 The man was a

cranky
teacher.
He
needs
to
retire
immediately.

2 The dog was skinny

and alone. It needed a
loving home.
3 The school halls were
decorated
for

Valentines Day. They

filled our hearts with
joy.

4 My pet was a lazy

hamster. He never ran
on his wheel.

Fix
the
following
sentences
using
sentence combining:
1 Bobby likes to take
naps. Bobby likes to
eat Snickers.

2 Sara
hated
her
teacher. Sara wanted
to change classes.

3 Jennifer
looked
through her pictures of
her
exboyfriends.
Jennifer wanted to tear
them up.
th

(Thank you 4 Hour.)

4 Becky took a road

trip.
She wanted to
head south for the
winter.

Fix
the
following
sentences
using
sentence padding:
1 Mrs. Wessley went to
the park.

2 The cuddly rabbit bit

me.

3 Mrs. Parrish laughed

hysterically.

4 Mr. Post fell on the

floor.

You try it:

Fix the following paragraph in order
to give it sentence fluency.

I loved this past weekend. My

friends and I hung out. We went to
the mall. We went to bowling. We
went to the movies. My friends are
great. They like me too. I would live
with them if I could. But I cant. I
cant wait until next weekend.

You try it
Write a five sentence paragraph
about any topic you wish.

If you cant think of a topic, here

are a few ideas:
Vacation
Weekends
Favorite video game
Favorite food
Family pet
Family member
School
Snow

NowRevise your paragraph with

two of the strategies on the Revising

for Sentence Fluency handout I gave

to you.