SENTENCE FLUENCY
The Art of Not Putting Your Foot in Your Mouth
SYNTAX
Have you ever gotten your tongue tied, or
mispronounced a word?
 The writing equivalent of “talking all over
yourself” is a syntax error.
 Sentences with syntax errors often sound too
long, too short, or most often just
overcomplicated.
 Syntax error sentences can also be unclear,
leading to unintentional double meanings.

HOW TO AVOID SYNTAX ERRORS
While Syntax errors are typically a Conventions
issue, they certainly apply to Sentence Fluency
(or the flow of your paper), because they cause
the reader to become interrupted.
 Avoiding syntax errors is easy, if you know how.
Namely:

Read over your work (it helps if you read it aloud)
 Have a peer or parent read over your work.

IMPROVING FLUENCY
By now we’ve talked about Sentence Types.
Using a variety of sentence types in any writing
can really boost the flow of a sentence.
 Let’s look at some examples

SIMPLE SENTENCE MARATHON


Joe went to the mall. Joe bought some
sunglasses. He went to the food court. Joe
ordered some food from Hardees. Joe met up with
some friends. They went to a movie.
This paragraph is boring, not because of the
content, but because every sentence is a simple
sentence.
BETTER…BUT NOT REALLY


Joe went to the mall, and bought some
sunglasses. He went to the food court, and Joe
ordered some food from Hardees. Joe met up with
some friends, and they went to a movie.
Even though we’re using better sentences, the
flow isn’t too much better. There’s less stopping
and starting, but it still sounds dull.
THROW IN SOME COMPLEXITY


Since he was bored, Joe went to the mall.
Although he already had some, Joe bought some
sunglasses. He went to the food court when he
felt hungry. Despite being on a diet, Joe ordered
some food from Hardees. After he ate, Joe met up
with some friends. They went to a movie, because
they were bored.
Adding phrases creates a big improvement, but
now it sounds forced.
MIX IT UP


Since he was bored, Joe went to the mall. Joe
bought some sunglasses, and then he went to the
food court. Despite being on a diet, Joe ordered
some food from Hardees. Joe met up with some
friends, and since they were bored, went to a
movie.
Even though this is the exact same information,
the variety of sentence types creates a smooth
flow which sounds more pleasing.
PEER EDIT, ROUND 1
You’ve already edited you paper based on
Organization, Ideas, Conventions, and Word
Choice.
 Today, choose a peer whom you trust to read and
edit your paper.
 Exchange papers and read the paper looking only
for Sentence Fluency errors (or improvement
possibilities). Mark SF above the error.

NEXT STEP

Now comb through the paper to spot any other
errors. When encountering errors mark:
O for organization
 I for ideas
 C for conventions
 WC for word choice

Take about ten minutes to read through the paper and
make your marks.
NOW GRADE
Take the scoring guide from your assignment and
give a grade out of 60 on the paper. Be as honest
as possible; remember that you are not giving a
final grade.
 Once you have both graded, take five minutes
each to discuss. Explain why you gave the grade
you did, and make suggestions for improvement.

BEFORE WE FINISH
Remember that we have another day of editing
before we write our final drafts.
 For those who have difficulty sitting down and
working in class, or for those who can get
confused with writing it is a good idea to make
corrections at home, and be prepared for
tomorrow with a new draft.
