Spicing Up Your Sentence Fluency Naga Viper “World’s Hottest Chili” The easiest way to improve the flavor of your writing.

What is sentence fluency? “The varying of the rhythm and flow of language, including the length of sentences and the transitions between sentences, to create writing that is pleasing and natural to the ear.” What is sentence fluency?

Two Easy Ways to Improve Sentence Fluency 1. Add some spice with a “Phrase---comma---sentence” 2. Vary the length of your sentences. Two Easy Ways to Improve Sentence Fluency

Phrase—comma—sentence Adding a sentence that consists of the “phrase—comma—sentence” structure can add sophistication and spice to your sentence fluency. Remember, these types of sentences can tend to be long, so it’s important not to overuse them. Example: If you like medium heat, you should try Tabasco sauce on your eggs at breakfast. Phrase: If you like medium heat INSERT COMMA! Sentence: you should try Tabasco sauce on your eggs at breakfast. Phrase—comma—sentence

More examples… Phrase—comma—sentence As I stand in the kitchen in tears, I realize I shouldn’t have touched my eyes after slicing a jalapeño. Whenever I grill burgers, I love to add habanero sauce to increase the flavor. Until I build up more tolerance, I will have to stick to the lower end of the Scoville Scale. More examples… Phrase—comma—sentence

Words to Start Phrases As If When Even though Though Before After Despite Because Whenever During Whether In order to Since Until Words to Start Phrases

Turn to part one on your worksheet to begin practicing spicing up your sentence fluency. Practice Time!

Vary the Length of Your Sentences Think of each paragraph as having 5-7 sentences. Here’s one possible “recipe” to follow to ensure that you vary your sentence lengths. Sentence one length: Medium Sentence two length: Long (phrase, sentence) Sentence three length: Medium Sentence four length: Short Sentence five length: Medium Vary the Length of Your Sentences

Example Sentence Fluency Paragraph Using the Length Variation Recipe “Medium--Long--Medium--Short--Medium” The Scoville Scale measures the hotness of peppers from around the world. Despite the fact that I have always loved spicy food, I cannot handle peppers in the highest part of the scale. The Naga Viper does not grow in nature but was created in England. That seems like cheating! I will not be trying the Naga Viper pepper anytime soon. Word Length: 12 words--21 words--13 words--4 words--11 words Example Sentence Fluency Paragraph Using the Length Variation Recipe

Write a paragraph using the same pattern of sentence length variation. “Medium--Long--Medium--Short--Medium” When you finish, count the number of words in each sentence to prove that you accomplished good sentence variation. Volunteers to share?? Now You Try… Write about the Scoville Scale and your own tolerance for hot food