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Language Instruction through Classroom Texts and Tasks
The first half of this workshop will explore activities that focus students’ attention on the
language structures in your classroom texts in order to help students make connections between
grammar and meaning. This practice will improve students’ reading comprehension, grammar, and
written expression. Strategies reviewed include chunking, sentence combining, sentence
deconstructing, unscrambling, imitating, expanding, sentence frames, and targeted Cloze passages.
Participants will spend the second half of the workshop creating a mini-lesson they can
immediately use in their classroom. To do so, participants are asked to bring a text that they will be
using in their class in the coming weeks, as well as a student writing sample or samples.
All are welcome – grammarphobes, grammarphiles, and everyone in between.
Contents
1. Strategies and their Uses
2. Brief Definitions and Models of Strategies
3. Implementation Tips
4. Language Structures to Consider
5. Resources
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STRATEGY
(Particularly)
USEFUL TO TARGET
Comprehension
Chunking
X
Sentence Decombining
X
Sentence Rearranging
Sentence Combining
Imitating
Notes
Writing
x
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R. McDermott 2013
x
x
Unscrambling
x
Expanding
x
x
Minimizing
x
x
Sentence frames
and starters
x
x
Cloze passages
Matching
x
x
x
Modeling
Categorizing
x
x
Starting point for imitating. Requires no knowledge of grammatical terms.
Helps with reading fluency.
Useful to check understanding of instructions and long sentences in class texts.
Helps understand sentence fragments as students need to add sentence parts.
Helps students identify the noun that pronouns refer to – it’s antecedent.
Helps students experiment with style and creating cohesion or flow.
Great extension activity to differentiate for high students.
Lends itself to random selection of opener, interrupter, closer via beach ball or “passing notes.”
Helps students consider the relationship between ideas.
Helps students see the variety of ways ideas can be expressed.
For lower levels, useful to know/practice transitions, coordinating and subordinating
conjunctions.
For higher levels, to know/practice know relative pronouns and the various types of phrases.
Begin by chunking, either from classroom texts or models.
All activities can/should lead to imitating to affect change in student writing.
Differentiation possible by choosing different sentences to imitate from the same text.
Helps students with word and phrase order.
Models chunking for students. Checks comprehension.
Particularly suited to manipulatives, groups, competitions, getting students moving.
Helps students use context to add details when students are provided the expansions chunks
Scaffold that allows students to write/imitate when students create chunks
Helps students learn to filter out unnecessary details and improve subject verb agreement.
Improves stylistic writing of adding powerful short sentences.
Connects to ideas that fragments are not just short sentences.
Scaffold to help students begin to use more complex structures
Method to guide students to consider specific relationships between ideas
Effective way to share structures and phrases common to a specific genre
Helps students see grammar in context – articles, subjects, verbs, conjunctions
Great for subject predicates, time phrases with rest of sentence, dependent/ind clauses.
Particularly suited to manipulatives, groups, competitions, getting students moving.
Helps students see what they read as a tool.
Helps students see patterns in grammar – verb tenses, plural vs singular, articles, active vs
passive, questions vs. statements.
Category charts make great posters on wall. Great for entrance/exit ticket.
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2. Brief Definitions and Models of Strategies
CHUNKING
Identify the natural and logical grouping of words in a sentence. I like to delete all other punctuation and use slash
marks.
Incorrect chunking:
For Noden grammar / is a means of helping students develop their / text much in the same way that / painters are able
to use various / brushstrokes to / craft their art or the ways that any artist or / craftsman uses / specialized skills to
develop
the craft.
Your turn chunking:
For Noden grammar is a means of helping students develop their text much in the same way that painters are able to use
various brushstrokes to craft their art or the ways that any artist or craftsman uses specialized skills to develop
the craft.
More models of Chunking to Imitate from Don Killgallon.
Sentence Combining for Elementary School Students. Look inside the book.
Sentence Combining for Middle School Students. Look inside the book.
SENTENCE DECOMBINING
Break a long sentence into 2 or more smaller, complete sentences. Make sure not to create fragments.
Original text from Science 9 Instructions:
You are welcome to wrap up your work by making connections to the organelles specifically but emphasis should
be on incorporating your analogies into a single “storyline” that runs throughout your work.
ELD 9 Student deconstruction:
a. You are welcome to wrap up your work by making connections to the organelles specifically.
b. Emphasis should be on incorporating your analogies into a single “storyline”.
c. A single “storyline” should runs throughout your work.
Your Turn to deconstruct this sentence from History 9:
The annexation of Austria, which had not raised objections in other European capitals, put Germany in position for
Hitler’s next objective – the destruction of Czechoslovakia.
a.
b.
c.
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SENTENCE REARRANGING
Move a section of a sentence to another position – opener, interrupter, closer. This generally only works with modifiers
– adjective, adverbs, prepositional phrases, and other phrases.
Original sentence from a student piece of narrative writing:
When the top 10 MRISA lists came out, as I [had] predicted, my name was there.
1. Move “as I predicted” from an interrupter to an OPENER:
As I had predicted, when the top 10 MRISA lists came out, my name was there.
2. Move “as I predicted” from an interrupter to a CLOSER:
When the top 10 MRISA lists came out, my name was there as I had predicted.
SENTENCE COMBINING
Add conjunctions, delete repeated words, and change word forms to connect ideas from various sentences into one
idea. Be careful not to create comma splices. Look for repeated subjects and pronouns for opportunities to sentence
combine.
From student writing:
Original sentence from a student piece of explanatory writing:
You could also find his writing pieces on the internet. Google Drive is the place where his writing pieces can be founded.
Rewritten as a combined sentence to reduce repetition:
You could also find his writing pieces on the internet on Google Drive.
Original sentence from a student piece of explanatory writing:
But I enjoy this class. It’s because sometimes I feel proud of myself when others such as teachers can see my
writing skill is improving.
Rewritten as a combined sentence:
But I enjoy this class because sometimes I feel proud of myself when others such as teachers can see
writing improving.
From Sentence Combining Exercises:
The bus was early today, and I missed it.
The bus is usually late.
Your turn:
Rewrite the two sentences about the bus above as a combined sentence with an adjective clause:
my
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IMITATING
Copy a model sentence from a text and write a new one that uses the same structure.
Original text from an ELD 10 student’s independent novel:
They kept / a clean comfortable apartment / furnished with / heavy dark mahogany pieces.
Her imitation:
Waste incineration systems produce / a wide variety of pollutants / created by harmful smoke
from burning waste.
Original text from an ELD 10 student’s independent novel:
The man /in the stalled motorboat/ was gone/ the mud hens /were gone.
Her imitation:
Technology in this modern world is dominant; printed papers are swept away.
Your turn – choose a sentence from this workshop’s blurb. Chunk and imitate it.
UNSCRAMBLING
Chunk a model sentence. Arrange the chunks so that the sentence is grammatically and contextually correct. Do not
break at just the words.
EXPANDING
Add words and phrases to a sentence.
From The Miracle Worker
Expand the sentences by adding one of the phrases to the right. Double check that the context is sensible.
1. Helen then comes back to the suitcase, ____________, and lifts out a
pair of female drawers (29).
2. Annie looks around desperately, ______________ , rummages in it, and
comes up with a battered piece of cake wrapped in a newspaper (31).
3. Kate comes to her, embraces, caresses, soothes her, _____________,
until she can control her voice (11).
a. sees her purse on the bed
b. gropes for more
c. and buries her own face in her hair
4. Make up your own ending to these sentences. Double check FANBOYS and punctuation.
A. James trudges in with the trunk, takes it up the steps to Annie’s room, _________________
B. She works her lips, gets to her feet, finds the mirror, __________________
Look at page 28 to see how Gibson finished sentence A, and page 33 to see how he finished B.
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MINIMIZING
Delete all modifiers in a sentence to focus on the main subject and verb.
From Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard to focus on the power of details:
Sketch a picture of this sentence:
She found a box of crayons and she began to draw. (minimized sentence)
Does the picture to the right match the sentence?
Now read the expanding sentence. Does the picture still work?
Finally, in desperation for another landscape, she found a box of crayons in the back of a cupboard and,
with a feeling bordering on hysteria, she began to draw on the dirty, stained walls of the house.
(original expanded sentence)
Your turn – Minimize this sentences from an article from English 10. What the most important idea about cell phones?
Cell phones open new channels for connecting the poor to services, new ways for citizens to have their voices heard, and
new opportunities for civic engagement in larger governance processes.
SENTENCE FRAMES AND STARTERS
Give students a structure to fill in or an opener to complete. This is helpful in order to target a specific relationship
between ideas if you want to measure content knowledge or practice a new structure.
Example from Writing Development 10 I-Search Unit on Paraphrasing and Citing:
Rewrite the sentence below, from the model I-Search “Battle ‘Tag’”, so that it begins with although, like the
blue poster.
The main purpose of warfare among the Sioux was prestige, not killing.
Although many people might assume that the main purpose ___________________________, it was
actually________________(“Battle ‘Tag’”).
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CLOZE PASSAGES
In a text, delete all of a specific language structure, either words or phrases (nouns as subjects, nouns as objects,
adjectives, verbs, articles, -ing words, prepositions or prepositional phrases, etc). Read the passage without the words
to see if it makes sense. It should if you did not delete subjects or verbs. Fill in the missing structures, possible using a
word bank. Keep blanks the same size to reduce a non-grammatical an non-contextual clue.
A close passage from Geography 10 targeting placement of adverbs:
In Israel today, I see an ______ more dangerous confusion over labels. Filipina women are the largest group of
migrants in Israel, a visibility ______ impressionable that the word for Filipina in Hebrew, Filipinit, is ______
synonymous with theHebrew word for “caregiver.” The Filipinit does ______ represent Filipina women, but
female migrant caregivers from various developing Asian countries. Thus, women from India, Sri Lanka, Nepal,
and China all lose their respective REN statuses when seen _______ as Filipinits, a label that assumes ______
their REN, but their socioeconomic, legal, and social status ______.
Word bank: so
even
as well
simply
not only
now
not
Key: In Israel today, I see an even more dangerous confusion over labels. Filipina women are the largest group
of migrants in Israel, a visibility so impressionable that the word for Filipina in Hebrew, Filipinit, is now
synonymous with theHebrew word for “caregiver.” The Filipinit does not represent Filipina women, but female
migrant caregivers from various developing Asian countries. Thus, women from India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and
China all lose their respective REN statuses when seen simply as Filipinits, a label that assumes not only their
REN, but their socioeconomic, legal, and social status as well.
MATCHING
Use context and grammatical clues to put language structures back together.
Example from Science 9:
Read the chunks in each column. Title each column either “Subjects” or “Predicates” based on the chunks below.
Match the subjects and the predicates of the steps of translation to create complete sentences.
RNA polymerase
complementary RNA nucleotides
the two DNA strands
unwind and separate
binds to the gene’s promoter
are added
More models of matching from Don Killgallon.
Matching sentences with openers, interrupters, closers
Paragraphs for High School Students. Look inside the book.
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MODELING
Indicate examples of structures in texts students are reading.
Example from The Miracle Worker read in English 9:
Notice these words that look like past tense verbs are actually ADJECTIVES! They are called past participles. To do the
adjective test, fill in one of these blanks with the word – The ______________ thing/person. Does it make sense?
1. She coughs, spits something into her palm, and stares at it, outraged (33).
2. She is like a little safe, locked, that no one can open (13).
3. Kate’s gaze on her is doubtful, troubled (22).
4. Annie holds the battered book (23).
5. James, very wounded, stalks out of the room onto the porch (9)
6. How can an inexperienced half-blind Yankee schoolgirl manage her? (28)
7. Helen’s hand waits, baffled (32).
Notice these words that look like past tense verbs are actually ADJECTIVES! They are called present participles. To do
the adjective test, fill in one of these blanks with the word – The ______________ thing/person. Does it make sense?
1. She’s a growing child (11).
2. The remaining lights have come up on the Keller homestead (18).
3. Kate’s face loses its remaining hope, still appraising her youth (23).
4. Well, I can’t plow up the entire grounds to find a missing key! (37).
5. In the house the setter Belle flees into the family room, pursued by Helen with groping hand (26).
CATEGORIZING
Students find connections between language structures.
Example from History 9:
Read the nouns below. Categorize them as countable or uncountable.
confrontation
administration
level
relation
dictator
plan
regime
Countable Nouns
Extensions: What do you think this paragraph will be about?
Read the paragraph and check your answers.
tension
Uncountable Nouns
government
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Find the COUNTABLE nouns from the categorizing activity and re-categorize them by singular or plural. Write the
whole noun phrase.
Used as a Singular noun IN CONTEXT
Ex – the categorizing activity
Used as a Plural noun IN CONTEXT
Ex – the countable nouns
Find ALL the nouns from the categorizing activity and re-categorize them by which article they use.
A/an
the
What do you notice about which nouns use a/an?
No article used
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3. Implementation Tips
Connecting to a Lesson:
Building Background Knowledge/Anticipation:
1. Choose the key verbs or nouns from a paragraph to discuss tense, plurals, articles, etc, and move forward by
asking for predictions of what the paragraph will be about or asking students to write a possible topic sentence for
the paragraph.
2. Use sentences created as part of an anticipation guide in a matching activity.
3. Create a cloze passage with one paragraph of a whole text, or the introductory paragraph. Ask for a title of the
whole text, or for predictions of what else will be in the text.
4. Chunk or deconstruct the most difficult sentences of a text before reading. Ask for predictions of what else will
be in the text.
5. Show model sentences from the text as part of the anticipatory set/ predicting.
6. Unscramble sentences that are part of an opinionaire or anticipation guide.
Promoting Active Reading:
1. Identify key terms or structures in a passage to use in a summary or retelling.
2. Work with the topic sentences of all paragraphs.
3. After introducing the structures, have students annotate them in the text.
Making it Stick (Retaining and Applying):
1. Create categorizing posters whole class to leave hanging through the unit
2. Hang models of work that use the studied structures, highlighting the use
3. Require students to use and/or underline certain patterns in their own writing
4. Continue to point out studied structures throughout the year.
Checking Comprehension:
1. Make the product of a matching, sentence combining, or sentence rearranging activity a True/False
assessment that students later take.
2. Use expanding or sentence frames as a question on an assessment or exit ticket.
Adding Some Fun:
1. Beach ball – Label each section on a beach ball 1-6. When you want students to look for something in
particular, rearrange the placement of something in a sentence, use a particular FANBOYS or AAAWWUBBIS,
etc, through the beach ball to the class and assign which ever option the receiver’s left thumb lands on.
2. Pass notes – Students write one sentence in their notebooks, then pass the notebook to in the designated
direction. The teacher gives a requirement for the next sentence (use x vocabulary word as a subject, use a
FANBOYS, use a sentence opener, move the opener to a closer) and the next student adds on to the text.
Repeat as many times as you want. Return paper/notebook to owner to read the whole text and write the
final section.
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3. Tea Party/Find a Mate – A spin on matching that has students actually look for the person who has the pair.
This is also called an “information gap” activity and can be used for fill-in-the-blanks, questions and answers,
and so on.
4. Three Color Marker for Chunking – If the whole class has chunked a sentence, call three volunteers up to
share their interpretation, each using a different color whiteboard marker. Compare and discuss.
Differentiation Ideas:
1. word/phrase banks
2. complexity of structures selected
3. number of sentences to combine
4. number of items in activity
5. students create the scrambling activities
6. provide sentence frames/starters on assessments for struggling students or ESL, possibly varying the complexity
of the frames.
Identifying Structures:
Managing models:
1. Choose 1-5 structures to address. Assign each structure to one of the colors of the arrow shaped sticky tabs. As
you read, use the tabs to quickly mark model structures.
2. Create a document with structures to address throughout the year. As you find them, copy/paste or type them
into the document under the label.
Other ideas:
1. Ask your ESL teacher for help.
2. Consider your students’ common errors.
3. Flip through a grammar handbook.
4. Choose something you notice repeated in a text.
5. Common Core Standards – Conventions of Standard English
6. Select structures that are imperative for comprehension, or within your students’ reach to construct.
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4. Language Structures to Consider
*In lieu of providing definitions and models, I leave you to copy and paste any of these terms you are unfamiliar with into
Google (or a web browser of your choosing).
1. Sentence structures: (in increasing difficulty more or less)
Adding adjectives before a noun
Adding prepositional phrases at the end of a sentence (as an opener for more difficulty)
Compound sentences with FANBOYS
Questions
Sentences that use gerunds (-ing words) as subjects
Complex sentences with adverb clauses – AAAWWUBBIS – after, although, as, while, when, until, before,
because, if (as openers and as closers)
Complex sentences with adjective clauses – (who, which, where, that)
Sentences with details (interrupters) in between the subject and verb
Appositive Phrases
Participle phrases – ing and –ed words like adjectives
2. Mechanics (capitalization, punctuation, spelling)
Punctuating dialogue and quotes
Comma use
3. Structures ESL students struggle with
Verb tenses
Subject Verb agreement
Articles
Transitions
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5. Resources
Authors and Articles
Anderson, Jeff. 10 Things Every Writer Should Know and Mechanically Inclined and…
User friendly templates for sentence structures. The inspirations for my class posters. Charts that show the
function of various sentence structures.
Killgallon, Don. Sentence Combining for…
The pioneer for this approach to grammar.
Weaver, Constance. Articles on effective grammar minilessons.
The pioneer for this approach to grammar.
Websites
Teaching That Makes Sense
Common Core Language Standards
On the Exchange:
Powerpoint – Teaching Grammar Through Literature
Lessons and Handouts from my classes
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