Hello, students, parents, and teachers,

This week you'll be reviewing what you've learned about sentence structure.

First, go to time4writing.com and try out their Free Resources for Sentence Writing, especially their printable worksheets:

Next, find a favorite book (check it out of the library if you don't have it at home) and do a sentence scavenger hunt. Search for:

simple sentences

compound sentences

complex sentences

Finally, use the sentences you found as models for writing your own sentences.

Have fun with this!

Happy writing,

Write Cook

P.S. Time to start shopping for school supplies! :)

Hello, students, parents, and teachers,

This week's' lesson is on complex sentences, but what you need to do is very simple:

Read and study the following document on understanding and constructing different types of sentences. As you do, write your own examples of simple, compound, and complex sentences. 

That's all for this week! 

Happy writing,

Write Cook

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello, writers and teachers,

One more week left of summer vacation! Enjoy it as much as you can! 

This final week, we'll reflect on sentence fluency. 

I like the following definition from www.education.com:

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."

In other words, fluency -- writing that is rhythmically pleasing to the ear -- results from 1) varying the structure and length of sentences and 2) making wise use of transitions. 

Writing can be more than just pleasing, however. The artistic use of rhetorical devices (read the document "Mr. Hot and Spicy") can make our writing not just flow, but "sing."

Let's examine an example. To appreciate the fluency of this passage you must read it aloud.

From Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury:

"It was a quiet morning, the town covered over with darkness and at ease in bed. Summer gathered in the weather, the wind had the proper touch, the breathing of the world was long and warm and slow. You had only to rise, lean from your window, and know that this indeed was the first real time of freedom and living, this was the first morning of summer. 

"A whole summer ahead to cross off the calendar, day by day. Like the goddess Siva in the travel books, he saw his hands jump everywhere, pluck sour apples, peaches, and midnight plums. He would be clothed in trees and bushes and rivers. He would freeze, gladly, in the hoarfrosted icehouse door. He would bake, happily, with ten thousand chickens, in Grandma's kitchen."

Notice how the use of the magic three (three items in a series), a variety of sentence types, and the poetic repetition of sentence beginnings and structures, give the writing rhythm and musicality. 

But how do we actually do this? How do we make our sentences flow and have rhythm? How do we make our writing "sing"?

Three things we can do:

1- Analyze and imitate the work of master writers.

2- Practice, practice, practice.

3- Read the work aloud. Get feedback from a friend. Revise.

This is your fun assignment for this last week of vacation: 

1- Read the following document on sentence fluency:

2- Read aloud from a favorite book. Copy one or two paragraphs that you find particularly pleasing to the ear. List what the author did to make his or her writing "sing." 

I will post again August 27 (first day of school!!!) . 

Have fun!

Write Cook

P.S.

What's the best beverage to drink when you're at the pool? Sweet tea? Fruit Punch? A simple, refreshing glass of cold water? 

Hello, writers and teachers,

 

We have 2 1/2 weeks left before school starts! We've looked at the parts of speech and all the cool things we can do with them:

 

 

 

 

 

And we've taken a closer look at the three most important parts of speech: Nouns, Verbs, and Adjectives.

 

These last weeks of summer we'll focus on sentences.

 

This week we'll review sentence structure.

 

Study the following presentation, and then try to imitate the structure of the lizard sentences.

 

 

 

 

 

Here are more sentence resources:

 

Go to http://www.internet4classrooms.com/ and follow this pathway:

 

1- Grade Level Help

2- 6th Grade Skills

3- Skill Builders

4-Language Arts Activities

5- Grammar

6- Sentence Structure

 

Next week we'll review sentence fluency

 

Talk to you soon!

 

Write Cook

 

P.S. Hopefully you're all enjoying some yummy outdoor cooking!