Sentence Workshop

What is a sentence? Write down a definition for “sentence” in your own words. You have one minute!

What is a sentence? Official Definition: A group of words with a subject and predicate that conveys an independent statement, question, request, or command Write this down!

Many definitions: Subject + Predicate = Sentence Subject: Noun, noun phrase, or pronoun with other words like articles and adjectives Predicate: Verb with other words that describe the subject or the verb

Noun A noun = person, place, thing or idea Common nouns = words that name things in a general sense: car, dog, person, building, state, music, book, etc. Proper nouns = the specific name of things: Mercedes, Fido, Empire State Building, Delaware, The Face on the Milk Carton, etc.

Noun Practice Proper nouns stand out, while common nouns blend in with the crowd. If you were at a concert and Eminem walked out into the crowd of 40,000 people, you would notice him instantly.

Common to Proper Noun Practice Rewrite the sentences replacing the vague, general nouns with specific proper nouns. At the arena, I cheered for the winning team. Meg got jeans, running shoes and a CD for her birthday.

Verb An action word or a word that conveys a state of being like “is” Action verbs = words that express what a person, animal, force of nature, or thing can do: sneeze, wink, slam, whine, whimper, play, etc. Helping/linking verbs = words that help action verbs or verbs that make connections or links between words in the sentence: is, be, am, are, was, were, been, has, have, had, do, does, did, can, could, etc.

Identifying Verb Practice: My family took a journey to Canada, a friendly nation full of kind people and giant plastic animals. We wanted to see the world’s largest turkey. We found it in Slipwaddle, Ontario. It was noon when we arrived. The sun seared my skin, cooked my hair, and melted my tennis shoes.

Answers: My family took a journey to Canada, a friendly nation full of kind people and giant plastic animals. We wanted to see the world’s largest turkey. We found it in Slipwaddle, Ontario. It was noon when we arrived. The sun seared my skin, cooked my hair, and melted my tennis shoes.

Subject/Predicate Identification Circle subjects and underline predicates: Three pelicans flew over the beach. The children build a sandcastle. Ben played chess with Alex. Everyone in the stadium watched the game. The microwave beeped.

Subject/Predicate Practice Three pelicans flew over the beach. The children build a sandcastle. Ben played chess with Alex. Everyone in the stadium watched the game. The microwave beeped.

Sentence Fragment It’s NOT a sentence. It’s NOT a complete thought. It’s what many of you gave me when I asked for complete sentences on the playlist assignment! Ex: Chose “Never Gonna Give You Up” because it talks about never giving up. What’s missing from this sentence?

Sentence Fragment Ex: Chose “Never Gonna Give You Up” because it talks about never giving up. Q: What’s missing from this sentence? A: A subject, a noun that does the “choosing.” Write this sentence fragment as a complete sentence.

Sentence Fragment Fix My group chose “Never Gonna Give You Up” because it talks about never giving up. Note: We have a subject and a predicate. We have a noun and an action. This sentence expresses a complete thought. You have changed a sentence fragment into a sentence.

Dependent Clause A group of words that has a subject and a verb but cannot stand alone as a sentence. This is another type of sentence fragment! Ex: Because she thought she was smarter than the others. What word makes this depend on something else to be a complete sentence?

Dependent Clause Practice Ex: Because she thought she was smarter than the others. What word makes this depend on something else to be a complete sentence? Because she thought she was smarter than the others. How could you correct this to make it a complete sentence?

Dependent Clause Correction Take off the word that makes it dependent: She thought she was smarter than the others. That would work if you didn’t want to explain more. 2. Because she thought she was smarter than the others, she wanted to be the group leader. That correction gives more explanation and is usually the better way to correct a dependent clause.

Identifying Sentence Fragments Place an S for sentence or an F for a sentence fragment/dependent clause. If your parents think today’s fashions are weird. They should see the clothes people wore in the Middle Ages. Liked clothes that were half one color and half another. People often heavy leather belts decorated with metal and jewels. Edges of clothing into shapes called dagges.

6. Sleeves with streamers that were two or three feet long. 7. Shoes had long toes that were padded to retain their shape. 8. Tights of velvet or silk. 9. When clothes were edged and lined in fur. 10. Layers very common in medieval clothing. 11. Was a way of displaying wealth. 12. The more clothes a person could afford to wear, the wealthier that person was.

Sentence Workshop Wrap-Up Complete Sentence = subject + predicate Complete Sentence = noun + verb Complete Sentence = Not a fragment Complete Sentence = Not a dependent clause