Eighth Grade English BEGIN Audience: 8th Grade General Education Students Standards and Benchmarks Addressed: W.PR.08.04 Review and revise their compositions for coherence and consistency regarding word choice, cause and effect, and style, and they will read their own work from another reader’s perspective in the interest of clarity. W.PR.08.05 Edit their writing using proofreaders’ checklists both individually and in peer editing group. W.GR.08.01 Use style conventions (e.g., MLA) and a variety of grammatical structures in their writing including infinitives, gerunds, participial phrases, and dashes or ellipses. BEGIN

Writing clear and concise sentences takes time and effort Writing clear and concise sentences takes time and effort. Anyone can write a confusing, unclear sentence! Both sentence fragments and run-on sentences confuse the reader. By learning to identify and correct these problems, your writing can improve quickly and easily!

FRAGMENTS Threw the baseball. (Who threw the baseball?) Mark and his friends. (What about them?) Eg-rule strategy. Around the corner. (Who is? What happened?)

A fragment is a group of words that does not express a complete thought. Something important is missing, and you are left wondering What is this about? or What happened? Eg-rule strategy.

A fragment may be missing a SUBJECT… Threw the baseball. (Who threw the baseball?) A fragment may be missing a VERB… Mark and his friends. (What about them?) A fragment may be missing BOTH… Around the corner. (Who was? What happened?) Eg-rule strategy

You can correct a fragment by adding the missing part of speech. Add a subject: Rob threw the baseball. Add a verb: Mark and his friends laughed. Add both: A dog ran around the corner. Scaffolding, Inductive

Sentence Fragment Let’s practice! Is this a sentence or a fragment? Delivered newspapers in the rain. Sentence Fragment

Try another one! Sorry! It is a fragment. It is missing a subject. You could correct it by adding a subject: Tyler delivered newspapers in the rain. Immediate feedback. Try another one!

Try another one! YES! It is a fragment. It is missing a subject. You could correct it by adding a subject: Tyler delivered newspapers in the rain. Immediate feedback. Try another one!

Is this a sentence or a fragment? Let’s practice more! Is this a sentence or a fragment? Kevin and his dog. Sentence Fragment

Try another one! Sorry! It is a fragment. It is missing a verb. You could correct it by adding a verb: Kevin and his dog went for a walk. Immediate feedback. Try another one!

Try another one! YES! It is a fragment. It is missing a verb. You could correct it by adding a verb: Kevin and his dog went for a walk. Immediate feedback. Try another one!

Is this a sentence or a fragment? Let’s practice more! Is this a sentence or a fragment? On Monday, we went outside for recess. Sentence Fragment

It has both a subject and a verb. Sorry! It is a sentence. It has both a subject and a verb. On Monday, we went outside for recess. subject verb Immediate feedback.

It has both a subject and a verb. Yes! It is a sentence. It has both a subject and a verb. On Monday, we went outside for recess. subject verb Immediate feedback.

A run-on is two thoughts put together in the same sentence A run-on is two thoughts put together in the same sentence. The two ideas may or may not be related. A run-on can be fixed by adding proper punctuation to separate the two complete thoughts. Rule-eg strategy.

Here are three examples of run-ons: Tyler delivered newspapers in the rain he got very wet. Kevin and his dog went for a walk it was a beautiful day. Rule-eg strategy. On Monday we went outside for recess it was fun.

There are three ways to correct a run-on: Add a period and a capital letter. Add a semicolon. Add a comma and a conjunction. Scaffolding

Let’s correct a sentence using a period and a capital letter! Tyler delivered newspapers in the rain he got very wet. WRONG! RUN-ON! Rule-eg strategy, Compare/Contrast Tyler delivered newspapers in the rain. He got very wet. RIGHT! SENTENCES!

Let’s correct a sentence using a semicolon! Kevin and his dog went for a walk it was a beautiful day. WRONG! RUN-ON! Rule-eg strategy, Compare/Contrast. Kevin and his dog went for a walk; it was a beautiful day. RIGHT! SENTENCES!

Let’s correct a sentence using a comma and a conjunction! On Monday we went outside for recess it was fun. WRONG! RUN-ON! Rule-eg strategy, Compare/Contrast. On Monday we went outside for recess, and it was fun. RIGHT! SENTENCES!

Is this a sentence or a run-on? Let’s practice! Is this a sentence or a run-on? The kids had a snack they ate too much. Sentence Run-On

The kids had a snack they ate too much. Sorry! It is a run-on. It has two separate thoughts with no punctuation separating them. Let’s correct it with a period and capital letter: The kids had a snack they ate too much. The kids had a snack. They ate too much. Immediate feedback. Try another one!

The kids had a snack they ate too much. Yes! It is a run-on! It has two separate thoughts with no punctuation separating them. Let’s correct it with a period and capital letter: The kids had a snack they ate too much. The kids had a snack. They ate too much. Immediate feedback. Try another one!

Is this a sentence or a run-on? Let’s practice more! Is this a sentence or a run-on? The couple danced they fell in love. Sentence Run-On

The couple danced they fell in love. Sorry! It is a run-on. It has two separate thoughts with no punctuation separating them. Let’s correct it with a comma and conjunction: The couple danced they fell in love. The couple danced, and they fell in love. Try another one!

The couple danced they fell in love. Yes! It is a run-on! It has two separate thoughts with no punctuation separating them. Let’s correct it with a comma and conjunction: The couple danced they fell in love. The couple danced, and they fell in love. Immediate feedback. Try another one!

Is this a sentence or a run-on? Let’s practice more! Is this a sentence or a run-on? The pizza was hot it smelled so good. Sentence Run-On

The pizza was hot it smelled so good. Sorry! It is a run-on. It has two separate thoughts with no punctuation separating them. Let’s correct it with a semicolon: The pizza was hot it smelled so good. The pizza was hot; it smelled so good. Immediate feedback.

The pizza was hot it smelled so good. Yes! It is a run-on! It has two separate thoughts with no punctuation separating them. Let’s correct it with a semicolon: The pizza was hot it smelled so good. The pizza was hot; it smelled so good. Immediate feedback.

Now that you’ve mastered identifying fragments and run-ons, let’s practice correcting them! Here is a quick reminder: Fragments need either a subject, a verb, or both. Run-ons need a period and capital letter, a semicolon, or a comma and conjunction. Scaffolding. Let’s practice!

Quickly ducked behind the door. Which answer could you add to correct this fragment? Quickly ducked behind the door. and waited. (at end) Thomas (at beginning) with the money. (at end)

Go back and try again! Sorry! This fragment needs a subject. Quickly ducked behind the door. (Who did?) Immediate feedback. Go back and try again!

Let’s try another one! Right! This fragment needs a subject! Quickly ducked behind the door. (Who did?) Thomas did! Immediate feedback. Let’s try another one!

Susan and Connie quietly. Which answer could you add to correct this fragment? Susan and Connie quietly. waited for lunch. (at end) On Monday, (at beginning) and quickly. (at end)

Go back and try again! Sorry! This fragment needs a verb. Susan and Connie quietly. (Did what?) Immediate feedback. Go back and try again!

This fragment needs a verb! Right! This fragment needs a verb! Susan and Connie quietly. (Did what?) Waited for lunch! Immediate feedback.

Let’s get started! Let’s fix some run-ons now! First, you’ll be given a run-on. Then you’ll see three choices. Only one choice is a correct way to fix the run-on. Scaffolding. Let’s get started!

The sunset was beautiful we sat and watched. The sunset was beautiful we sat, and watched it. The sunset was beautiful. We sat and watched it. The sunset was beautiful, we sat and watched it.

Go back and try again! Sorry! This run-on needs to be separated BETWEEN the two complete thoughts. Where does one thought end and another begin? The sunset was beautiful we sat and watched. Immediate feedback. Go back and try again!

Let’s try another one! Right! This run-on needs to be separated BETWEEN the two complete thoughts. The sunset was beautiful we sat and watched it. ---one complete thought----- --one complete thought-- Immediate feedback. The sunset was beautiful. We sat and watched it. Let’s try another one!

A comma alone cannot fix a run-on. Sorry! A comma alone cannot fix a run-on. TO FIX A RUN-ON: A comma and conjunction A semicolon A period and a capital letter Immediate feedback. Go back and try again!

The students took a test it was very hard. The students took a test, but it was very hard. The students took a test but it was very hard. The students took a test, it was very hard.

Let’s try another one! Right! This run-on needs to be separated with a comma AND a conjunction. The students took a test, but it was very hard. Immediate feedback. Let’s try another one!

A conjunction alone cannot fix a run-on. Sorry! A conjunction alone cannot fix a run-on. TO FIX A RUN-ON: A comma and conjunction A semicolon A period and a capital letter Immediate feedback. Go back and try again!

A comma alone cannot fix a run-on. Sorry! A comma alone cannot fix a run-on. TO FIX A RUN-ON: A comma and conjunction A semicolon A period and a capital letter Immediate feedback. Go back and try again!

The boys ordered a pizza they didn’t want olives on it. The boys ordered a pizza but they didn’t want olives on it. The boys ordered a large pizza they didn’t want olives on it. The boys ordered a pizza; they didn’t want olives on it.

Go back and try again! Sorry! A run-on needs to be separated between the two complete thoughts with punctuation. TO FIX A RUN-ON: A comma and conjunction A semicolon A period and a capital letter Immediate feedback. Go back and try again!

Go back and try again! Sorry! A run-on needs to be separated between the two complete thoughts with punctuation. TO FIX A RUN-ON: A comma and conjunction A semicolon A period and a capital letter Immediate feedback. Go back and try again!

A run-on can be corrected with a semicolon. Right! A run-on can be corrected with a semicolon. The boys ordered a pizza; they didn’t want olives on it. Immediate feedback.

You’ve done a great job identifying and correcting fragments and run-ons! But the real test of your knowledge is in your own writing. You now have to remember what you’ve learned and apply it to your own writing. A great place to do this is in the editing stage of the writing process. When you check your work, keep an eye out for fragments and run-ons and AVOID THEM!!! Fragments Run-Ons

I (state your name) promise to look for fragments and run-ons in my own writing, and correct them when I find them. I WILL AVOID FRAGMENTS AND RUN-ONS!