Sentence Combining
One common reason for students to have difficulty effectively expressing their ideas in writing is lack of the necessary grammar skills. Sentence combining is an effective way to work on those grammar skills by enabling students to understand the importance of word order and how words are combined to create complete sentences. Sentence combining provides repeated practice using conjunctions, adjectives and other parts of speech to turn short, choppy sentences into a single, more cohesive sentence. Once they are able to use these grammar skills to combine sentences effectively, they will be able to apply those skills in their writing.
Outside Resources
Why Use Sentence Combining?
This link is to a webpage that gives a summary of sentence combining; including tips on not only why but also how to use sentence combining. They also give ideas for differentiated instruction. It is part of the larger Reading Rockets website which has a wealth of resources and additional links designed to support teachers, parents and kids.
CLICK HERE FOR READING ROCKETS SENTENCE COMBINING RESOURCECombining Sentences
This is a link to a webpage from the Division of Student Affairs at Case Western Reserve University. This webpage gives a summary of sentence combining as well as reasons why it is effective. They also include examples of different ways to combine sentences.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW SENTENCE COMBINING RESOURCES FROM CASE WESTERNIntervention Central
This webpage has additional information and resources for teaching sentence combining.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE INTERVENTION CENTRAL WEBPAGE