1. the music created by your own words
Sentence Fluency
the music created by your own words

2. Listen to how your words and phrases sound
- vary sentence beginnings
- move words and phrases around
(Stan struck the ball with great force. --> With great force, Stan struck the ball)
- repeat sounds, words, or phrases to create a pattern

3. vary sentence length and structure to create a rhythm
- use both long and short sentences
- experiment with simple, compound, and complex sentences
Max played football. Maria went shopping.
Max played football and Maria went shopping.
While Max was playing football, Maria went shopping.
-combine short sentences or break up long ones

4. construct sentences that enhance meaning
- use punctuation for emphasis
(Look out. --> Look out!)
- use transitions to link sentences
(Traffic came to a stop. There was an accident that morning. --> Traffic came to a stop as a result of an accident that morning.)
- use different kinds of sentences: commands, interjections, questions
(That hurt. --> Ouch, that hurt!)

5. strategies for improving sentence fluency
Read your writing aloud and listen for what it needs. Do you need to add or delete words to keep the rhythm? Would a transition make the writing flow more smoothly?
Rewrite a sentence so the subject is at the beginning or the end. How does that change affect the fluency of the sentence?

6. sentence fluency assessment continuum .
It’s a challenge to read out loud.
Sentences sound boring and are all the same length or begin the same way.
Some of my sentences don’t make sense.
A few sentences don’t sound right.
Several sentences are the same length.
Many of the sentences begin the same way.
Writing sounds smooth and easy to read out loud.
A mix of long and short sentences.
Varied sentence beginnings create a pleasing rhythm.