ELAGSE5L3: Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.
a. Expand, combine, and reduce sentences for meaning, reader/listener interest, and style.*
This week we finish up expanding, combining and reducing sentences and move onto Dialects. and registers.
ELAGSE5L3: Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.
b. Compare and contrast the varieties of English (e.g., dialects, registers) used in stories, dramas, or poems.
Good writers use a variety of sentence structures to keep their writing interesting and to add style. If a paragraph has too many short, choppy sentences, it can get boring. If it has too many long, complicated sentences, the reader can feel overwhelmed. A mix of sentence lengths and structures can keep writing flowing well. During the revision process, writers can expand, combine, and reduce sentences to improve the overall flow and style of their writing and to improve the clarity of their thoughts.
Closer Look: Expanding Sentences
One way to improve the quality of writing is to expand short, simple sentences into sentences with more detail and
description. In order to add detail and description, ask who, what, where, when, why, and how. The answers to these
questions will expand the ideas in a sentence. Although the answers to the questions are often nouns and verbs, adding
adjectives and adverbs can add descriptions. Remember that adjectives are words that describe nouns, and adverbs
are words that describe verbs. Sometimes, the answers to the same questions are phrases that start with subordinating
conjunctions (because, while, since, if, after, etc.). Other times, prepositional phrases can be used to add details.
Example:
Short Sentence Expanded Sentence
The dog ate my dinner. My sneaky dog ate my dinner after I spent hours making it.
George likes to sing. George, a painter, likes to sing for fun.
A Closer Look: Combining Sentences
When revising, a writer may find sentences that were written with the same subject. Remember that a subject is the noun that is doing the action. If there are several short sentences in a row that use the same subject, the text might read
better if the writer combined the sentences. The following shows two ways to combine sentences that use the same
subject: using conjunctions for compound sentences and adding a dependent clause and an independent clause.
The conjunctions and, or, but, yet, so, for, and nor can be helpful in combining sentences. Think about the relationship
between the ideas in the sentences. Choose the most effective conjunction, and combine the sentences.
One way to improve the quality of writing is to expand short, simple sentences into sentences with more detail and
description. In order to add detail and description, ask who, what, where, when, why, and how. The answers to these
questions will expand the ideas in a sentence. Although the answers to the questions are often nouns and verbs, adding
adjectives and adverbs can add descriptions. Remember that adjectives are words that describe nouns, and adverbs
are words that describe verbs. Sometimes, the answers to the same questions are phrases that start with subordinating
conjunctions (because, while, since, if, after, etc.). Other times, prepositional phrases can be used to add details.
Example:
Short Sentence Expanded Sentence
The dog ate my dinner. My sneaky dog ate my dinner after I spent hours making it.
George likes to sing. George, a painter, likes to sing for fun.
A Closer Look: Combining Sentences
When revising, a writer may find sentences that were written with the same subject. Remember that a subject is the noun that is doing the action. If there are several short sentences in a row that use the same subject, the text might read
better if the writer combined the sentences. The following shows two ways to combine sentences that use the same
subject: using conjunctions for compound sentences and adding a dependent clause and an independent clause.
The conjunctions and, or, but, yet, so, for, and nor can be helpful in combining sentences. Think about the relationship
between the ideas in the sentences. Choose the most effective conjunction, and combine the sentences.
A Closer Look Reducing Sentences
Have you ever heard the saying, “The less said, the better”? While details can be interesting, sometimes they get in the way of a sentence’s meaning. Pare down, or shorten, sentences, where appropriate, to make them more powerful.
Have you ever heard the saying, “The less said, the better”? While details can be interesting, sometimes they get in the way of a sentence’s meaning. Pare down, or shorten, sentences, where appropriate, to make them more powerful.
Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.
- L.5.3 Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.
- L.5.3.a Expand, combine, and reduce sentences for meaning, reader/listener interest, and style.
- Order the words to create a sentence (5-B.1)
- Create a sentence based on the model (5-B.2)
- Is the sentence simple or compound? (5-E.1)
- Identify dependent and independent clauses (5-E.3)
- Is the sentence simple, compound, or complex? (5-E.4)
- Identify relative pronouns (5-S.1)
- Use relative pronouns: who and whom (5-S.2)
- Use relative pronouns: who, whom, whose, which, and that (5-S.3)
- Use relative adverbs (5-T.1)
- Identify coordinating conjunctions (5-BB.1)
- Use coordinating conjunctions (5-BB.2)
- Identify subordinating conjunctions (5-CC.1)
- Use the correct pair of correlative conjunctions (5-DD.1)
- Fill in the missing correlative conjunction (5-DD.2)
- L.5.3.a Expand, combine, and reduce sentences for meaning, reader/listener interest, and style.
Dialect – The variety or form of a spoken language peculiar to a region, community, social or occupational group.
Register – The level of language and formality used when interacting with different audiences (e.g., elders vs. siblings, teachers vs. friends, boss vs. employee).
Here is an example of dialect: "Howdy, how are y'all doing?"
Register – The level of language and formality used when interacting with different audiences (e.g., elders vs. siblings, teachers vs. friends, boss vs. employee).
Here is an example of dialect: "Howdy, how are y'all doing?"