Mini Lesson on Sentencing and Editing

Part 1: Presentation
This activity should occur around the middle of the term after students have had a chance to draft several pieces of their own writing. At this point, students may be struggling with ways to refine their sentence structures. They may stick to simple sentences or the same, small set of conjunctions. This activity will help students discover the different ways that writers can connect sentences and should introduce them to the rhetorical purpose behind different types of conjunctions. First, the instructor should open by talking about why its important to use different types of sentences and to vary simple sentences with more complex sentences. Ex. to reduce repetition, vary the rhythm, maintain the readers interest. Next, pull up an article from the student newspaper (either project the article or pass out hard copies for each student). Have the class scan the article, looking for words that connect different parts of the sentences. Once the class has found most of the linking words in the article, have them group the words by their rhetorical purpose. For example, categories may include words that link complementary ideas, words that link differing ideas, cause/result words, time and order words, etc. The instructor can write the word lists and categories on the board. Once the class has grouped the list of conjunctions, have them list additional conjunctions for each category and write these new words on the board as well. By the end of the activity, some of the following words should be listed: Words link complementary ideas: and, also, similarly, additionally, furthermore Words link differing ideas: but, yet, however, nevertheless, instead, despite Words that show a cause/result: because, as a result, consequently Words that answer so what?: so, therefore, thus, for this reason Words that show time or order: first, eventually, lastly, to begin, finally

Part 2: Follow-Up Activity

Split up the students into small groups of three or four. Have them work together to revise the same student newspaper article. Each time they see and, but, or because have them revise that sentence using one of the other options listed on the board. Each time they see several simple sentences in a row, have them combine the sentences. When each group has finished revising the article, have the class meet together as a whole to go over the changes that theyve made to the article. Hopefully, not every group will have made the same revisions. Have each group go over the changes theyve made, and when groups have chosen different conjunctions, ask them why they made their particular choice. Sometimes, the words the replacement words theyve chosen may make the sentence too long or a bit hard to understand. This is

a good opportunity for the instructor to talk about why we choose some words in certain contexts. The instructor can use this opportunity to talk about how different linking words can change the meaning of the sentence. After the students have finished this follow-up activity, have them go through their own papers using the same process.

Part 3: Analysis
I initially took the idea for this activity from Lindemanns section on paragraphing (Chapter 9). The initial presentation introduces students to sentence-combining inductively. By analyzing a real-world example of writing, students should be able to see that how different types of sentences work together to produce clarity in a non-academic context. . Because the initial activity is not lecture-based, it draws on the students former knowledge and reasoning capacity. It should not be an intimidating or formal activity for the students because it doesnt rely on grammar jargon. Once the students have generated a list of linking words, they have a pool of options to draw from for the follow-up activity. The follow-up activity expands on the initial activity by showing the students how to use this knowledge in their own writing. It gives them a process for revising the work theyve already drafted in order to make it more polished and varied. Student Newspaper Article Examples: http://www.depauliaonline.com/arts-life/late-night-of-memes-and-men1.3146985#.UxjclSjOZAU http://www.depauliaonline.com/opinions/justice-still-not-served-for-black-america1.3144189#.UxjdnCjOZAU http://www.depauliaonline.com/opinions/justice-still-not-served-for-blackamerica-1.3144189#.UxjdnCjOZAU