A Roadmap to Sentence Combining

We are on this road together…

Research

Sentence combining research compiled by Trish Havlin, University of Oregon EMPL program and presented in collaboration

with Heather Anderson For further information contact

phavlin@uoregon.edu

Recommendations for the Road Map…

Writing Next and Writing to Read (Carnegie Corporation)

Bruce Saddler, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology Division of Special Education, State University of New York-Albany Columbia University’s Reading and Writing

Project University of Oregon-CTL Conference

Sentence Combining(Effect Size=0.50)

According to Writing Next, sentence combining involves teaching students to construct more complex and sophisticated sentences through exercises in which two or more basic sentences are combined into a single sentence. The effect size for all studies were consistently positive and moderate in strength.

Trip Plan Exit 1: Definition Exit 2: Anticipated Struggles-Sentence challenge and importance Exit 3: Rules-Syntactic Control-Style Exit 4: Sentence Combining

Think about…

Writing is a process of

communication that uses a

conventional graphic system

to convey a message to the

reader.

Turn and Talk What is sentence

combining? Can you define it?

Writing is…

Message

Subject

ReaderWriter

Turn and Talk What struggles do you

anticipate with sentence combining for your students?

Anticipated Struggles

Lack important knowledge of how to

write Difficulties generating ideas and selecting

topics

Little advanced planning/organiz

ing

Limited revising ability

Overemphasison mechanics

and Sentence style is simple and

repetitive

The Challenge… Of the many difficulties writers may

encounter, crafting effective sentences can be notably challenging.

Sentence construction ability is a master critical skill for a writer to master.

The sentence is a vehicle of communication.

The sentence generation is the conversion of mental ideas, intentions to written forms.

The Challenge Well crafted stories more enjoyable to

read Might lead to higher scores while grading No rules for what type of sentence works

best in a given situation. No one ‘right’ way to do this.

Turn and TalkWhat is style?

Style In music In clothing In writing, style is the total impact of a

writer’s words, sentence structures, details, images, and rhetorical patterns.

Style in writing is literally a ‘way with words’ (Newman, 1995)

Strunk and White (1979)

Provided one of the most complete guides to ‘style’;

“A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences for the same reason a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell…” (p. 23)

Helpful-but what’s the drawback?

Turn and TalkThe drawback… Is it exposure? Is it syntax? Is it grammar? Is it word choice? Is it voice? What is it?

Syntactic Control Style is produced through syntactic control Learning syntactic control to produce or

generate, and then revise sentences is important for all writers, as sentence generation (along with planning and revising) is considered a critical component of the writing process (Hayes & Flowers, 1986)

In fact, some believe that the ability to manipulate sentence structures is at least as important as initial creation of text in writing.

Example of syntactic control

Picture and model syntactic control

Have ‘a go” Your turn here’s a picture, now practice

syntactic control

Syntactic Control For skilled writers, syntactical control

increase with age Not so for children with disabilities Syntactic gap widens…

Turn and Talk How might this affect a

student with a Specific Learning Disability (SLD)?

Writers with a Specific Learning Disability (SLD)Less skilled writers including writer’s with SLD

may have considerable difficulties with sentence construction: Shorter Less syntactically complex Lower in quality More error filled Less varied in terms of vocabulary and

structure

Recommendations… Andolina (1980) recommends

teachers provide direct, stimulating language experiences to accelerate development of syntactical patterns throughout the school years.

Turn and TalkWhat is sentence

combining?

Sentence Combining An effective method to directly

teach sentence construction skills.

Have ‘a-go”

See hand-out

Example As shadows filled the coach’s office, the

coach bent over his metal desk and cleaned out the bulging files.

With shadows filling his office, the coach bent over his metal desk, cleaning out the bulging files.

In a shadow-filled office, the coach bent over his metal desk to clean out bulging files.

Benefits of Sentence of Combining

First, sentence combining increases an awareness of writer motivations and reader responses.

How does my writing sound to others? Is there a better a way of saying it?

Benefits of Sentence of Combining

Second, varying sentences combinations can help students “convey different ideas.”

May reduce the choppy or run-on style sentences students produce

Elevates awareness of and familiarity with syntactic options for expressing the same idea

Willingness to experiment If enough practice practice is provided to

make writers comfortable with various options

Benefits of Sentence of Combining

Third, discussing sentence combining exercises may also help students become confident about punctuation

Exercises illustrate how punctuation organizes sentence elements.

Benefits of Sentence of Combining

Fourth, sentence combining practice may foster skills in revision

By promoting-reorganization-addition-or elimination of textual elements

Implementation In small groups Can be done orally, in one on one

conference sessions Mini-lesson Bell ringer or a do now This is a strategy that may be utilized

across content areas

Homework Implement a sentence combining activity

with your students and bring a sample of student work to discuss at our next meeting.

Next Session… Prewriting/writing process strategies