JULIE POOLE
ENGLISH EDUCATION, 2008-2009 COHORT
ATE
ARCH
ERIOD
RD
TH
LOCK
RADE
EVEL
NGLISH
GENERAL
COLLEGE
C ONTEXT /R ATIONALE :
(Why this lesson in this way with this group of students today? How does it fit into the bigger context of the unit?)
AFTER FINISHING THE PERSUASION UNIT
,
STUDENTS WILL COLLABORATE TO PUT TOGETHER THEIR OWN
LESSON PLANS REGARDING THE FIRESIDE POETS
.
BY TAKING OWNERSHIP OF A PATERICALAR TOPIC
,
STUDENTS NOT ONLY WILL MAKE MEANING OF THIS SUBJECT IN A DIFFERENT WAY
,
BUT THEY WILL BE ABLE
TO PRACTICE THEIR PRESENTATION SKILLS
.
MINI LESSONS ON SENTENCE FRAGMENTS WILL ALSO TAKE
PLACE IN ORDER TO HELP STUDENTS IN AN AREA THEY ARE WEAK
.
I NSTRUCTIONAL O BJECTIVES :
( Connect to SOL’s where appropriate .)
SOL’
S
: 11.3, 11.4
1.
GIVEN A HANDOUT ON SENTENCE FRAGMENTS
,
STUDENTS WILL SUCCESSFULLY UNDERSTAND AND
COMPLETE A FRAGMENT WORKSHEET
.
2.
GIVEN 30 MINUTES OF CLASS TIME , STUDENTS WILL FINISH PREPARING FOR THEIR FIRESIDE POET
LESSON PLANS .
3.
GIVEN THE REST OF CLASS , STUDENTS WILL BEGIN THEIR FIRESIDE POET PRESENTATIONS .
O
PENER
/A
NTICIPATORY
S
ET
/W
ARM
-
UP
:
(Include details about what prior knowledge students need in order to enter into this lesson and how you’ll engage it.)
1.
AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS
,
I WENT OVER A HANDOUT I CREATED ON TIPS TO FINDING AND
CORRECTING FRAGMENTS
.
I BROKE IT DOWN INTO
3
TESTS
:
IS THE SENTENCE MISSING A VERB
?
IS
THE SENTENCE MISSING A SUBJECT
?
DOES THE SENTENCE HAVE A COMPLETE THOUGHT
?
AFTER
,
STUDENTS DID A FEW PRACTICE EXECISES THROUGH AN INTERACTIVE WEBSITE AS WELL AS A
FOLLOW ALONG WORKSHEET
.
WE WENT OVER IT ALL AT THE END OF TIS MINI LESSON
.
A
CTIVITIES
:
( Include variety here – use the lesson planning checklist as a reference.)
1.
SENTENCE FRAGMENT MINI LESSON
/
HANDOUT
2.
SENTENCE FRAGMENT INTERACTIVE PRACTICE AND WORKSHEET
3.
GO OVER ANSWERS / DISCUSS ANSWERS

4.
STUDENTS WILL BE GIVEN TIME TO FINISH PREPARING FOR THEIR LESSON PRESENTATIONS AND TO
UPLOAD THEIR WORK TO THE CLASS WIKI
5.
STUDENT WILL BEGIN PRESENTATIONS
C
LOSURE
:
WE WERE NOT ABLE TO FINISH THE FIRESIDE POET PRESENTATIONS , SO I TOLD THE CLASS WE WOULD FINISH
THEM THE FOLLOWING DAY .
THEY WERE ASSIGNED FRAGMENT HOMEWORK WHICH I WENT OVER AND
REVIEWED THE THREE TESTS ON HOW TO FIND / CORRECT SENTENCE FRAGMENTS
M
ATERIALS
:
( What do you need to gather and have ready for students to support and drive this lesson?)
1.
COMPUTERS
2.
FRAGMENT HANDOUT
/
WORKSHEET
3.
CLASS WIKI
4.
STUDENT PRESENTATION MATERIAL
D IFFERENTIATION :
( What can you do within this lesson to make sure that you are moving ALL kids further in their skills and understandings? Note: It is not enough to mention that you’re working with a collaborating teacher or reading specialist here. This might not happen in each lesson.)
Students were allowed to chose how they were going to present their topic to the class and how their lesson plan would go. Minor requirements were uniform, but most of it was a choice the individual student or group of students were allowed to make, allowing them to learn and create based on their own strengths and needs as a student.
N EW L ITERACIES /21
ST
C ENTURY S KILLS /T ECHNOLOGY I NTEGRATION :
(Again, this might not happen in every lesson, but you’ll want to articulate it when it does – and offer ideas about why it isn’t the right fit specific cases, etc.)
1.
STUDENTS ARE ACTIVELY USING THEIR COMPUTERS IN CLASS
,
RESEARCH TOOLS
,
ETC
.
2.
STUDENTS USE INTERACTIVE GRAMMAR WEBSITE TO LEARN ABOUT SENTENCE FRAGMENTS
A
SSESSMENT
:
( How do you know what ALL students know? Formative and summative.)
Formative:
Summative:
1.
Fireside Poet Presentations
1.
In-class work on sentence fragments
2.
Homework on sentence fragments

Tips to Finding and Correcting Fragments!
A fragment is an incomplete sentence that will begin with a capital letter and conclude with an end mark – usually a period [.] but sometimes a question mark [?] or an exclamation mark [!]. The fragment, will not, however, contain a main clause, the one grammatical unit essential to every sentence. A main clause looks like this:
SUBJECT + VERB = COMPLETE THOUGHT
Every sentence must pass three tests before you can call it complete.
1.
Verb Test

2.
Subject Test
3.
Complete Thought Test
Test 1 – Find the verb.
Every sentence must have a verb. Verbs express action or link information to the subject. Look at the incomplete versus complete sentences that follow:
Fragment/Incomplete: The happy calculus students.
Subject: calculus Verb: missing Complete Thought: missing
Ask yourself: “The happy calculus students did what?? The verb is missing.
Complete Sentence: The happy calculus students shouted and laughed in the cafeteria.
By adding the verbs “shouted” and “laughed”, the sentence is complete!
When you are proofreading a sentence, you will sometimes find a verbal instead of a
verb. A verbal is unable to change form. You cannot, for example, add “-s” or “-ed” to the end of one. Read the examples below:
The happy calculus students shouting and laughing in the cafeteria.
Ask yourself: “What is the verb? Does this sentence have a complete thought?”
This sentence does not pass all three tests so it is a FRAGMENT!!
Test 2 – Find the subject.
If you find an action verb in the sentence, the subject is whoever or whatever is doing that action. If, on the other hand, you find a linking verb, such as am, is, are, was, or
were, the subject is usually whoever or whatever comes before the verb. Here are two sample sentences:
The refrigerator hummed in the kitchen. (What was humming? The fridge!)
The coffee maker was loud. (What was loud? The coffee maker!)
Sometimes writers assume we know who or what the subject is, so they leave it out.
Read the following example:
The coffee maker was loud. And the next morning hissed more than usual.
Ask yourself: “What is the subject in both of these sentences? Is it clear?”
What hissed?? The coffee maker did. But, coffee maker was not part of the word group beginning with And. As a result, this word group is a fragment because it fails Test
2.
Test 3 – Find the complete thought.
Between ever capital letter and end mark, you must find a complete thought. A subordinate clause, for example, has both a subject and a verb. However, the clause

also begins with a subordinate conjunction such as because, if or since; or a relative pronoun such as who, which, or that; or a relative adverb such as when, where or why.
These opening words keep the subject and verb from expressing a complete thought.
Look at the example below:
When Kara caught sight of her ex-boyfriend Rob.
Subject: Kara Verb: caught sight Complete Thought: missing
Ask yourself: “What is the complete thought here?”
When Kara saw Rob, what happened? We don’t know because the thought is incomplete. This word group is a fragment because it fails Test 3.
Quick Test:
Directions: Identify the following for each sentence: subject, verb, and complete thought. If the sentence is missing one of these components, mark it as “missing.” Put an “X” on the line if the word group is a fragment. Write “OKAY” if the word group passes all three tests for a complete sentence.
1. When Sammy discovers the empty carton of vanilla ice-cream, he will explode with anger.
2. Jack, engrossed in another science fiction novel, did not realize the oven timer had gone off.
3. Alex needs to bring home some roses if he wants Sally to forgive him for flirting with Susie.
4. The can of dog food that Diane used to feed Santana, her beagle.
5. Rolling down the sidewalk on his scooter.
Name Date
Directions: Read each short passage that follows. Determine which part is the fragment
1.
A Maria wasn't watching her plate of barbecue very carefully. B So Santana, the family beagle, snatched a chicken leg hanging over the edge. C As baked beans and potato salad slid onto Maria's new sandals.

2.
A Ever since Andre peeked at Melissa's paper during the biology exam. B Guilt has consumed him. C Even the blueberries floating in his cereal bowl seem like the accusing eyes of Dr. Gregory, his microbiology instructor.
3.
A James opened the door of his cluttered refrigerator. B Which caused a pint of blueberries to fall to the floor. C The fruit bounced and rolled everywhere in an explosion of indigo.
4.
A Richie loves to walk his friends' dogs at Lake Eola Park. B For example, Kim's Labrador retriever Murphy or Gary's bulldog Kembo. C Beautiful women, Richie has learned, gravitate toward guys with cute dogs.
5.
A Head down, Lela stared at the textbook on her desk. B She understood the fragment practice that Mrs. Markham was going over in class. C But was too shy to raise her hand and volunteer an answer.
6.
A Joshua found the pressure from the gas in his stomach unbearable. B Although he didn't want to be rude in the middle of geology class. C An explosive belch erupted from his mouth.
7.
A Phillip left work early. B To memorize the vocabulary that his Spanish midterm would test the next day. C But all that he could think about was Beatrice, the cute new sales associate who worked in the camera department.
8.
A Chewing the dry, tough, whole-grain bread bought from the health food store. B Lorena tried to enjoy her lunch. C Fantasizing about a juicy cheeseburger on a soft white bun didn't improve the taste of the soy product sandwiched between leaves of organic lettuce.
9.
A My cat Fuzz loves to sleep in inconvenient places. B Lately she prefers the computer table.
C Where her long hair sticks to the mouse pad, covers the keyboard, and clings to the screen of the monitor.
10.
A Rocking and thrashing like a wild horse that cowboys had lassoed. B The washer complained about its overloaded tub. C At the other end of the laundromat, Bobby quietly read an old magazine, pretending that it was not his machine.
11.
A Day after day, thunderclouds rolled in during the early afternoon. B Making Madison's grass thrive from all of the water. C Her neighbors, however, prayed for a sunny afternoon so that Madison could finally mow the jungle that was the front yard.
12.
A While cleaning under his bed, Glen heard the vacuum cleaner suck up something hard and metallic. B Glen wanted to know what the object was. C But had no intention of digging through a bag of dust, dead bugs, cat litter, and bathroom hair to find out.
13.
A Farah woke Kirby, the family's ancient German shepherd. B To see if he had fallen asleep on the remote control. C The growl that Kirby rumbled in protest convinced Farah to use the channel buttons on the front of the television instead.
14.
A Raja knew that his roommate Tina had cupcakes hidden in the apartment. B He looked everywhere. C Including in the clothes hamper, on top of the bookcases, behind the sofa — even under his own bed!
—all to no avail.

15.
A Peering around the other students in line, Sylvia tried to see the lunch choices. B The cafeteria selections were disappointing. C For example, greasy fried chicken, soupy sweet-n- sour pork, and a gray mystery meat floating in translucent, lumpy gravy.
16.
A Struggling up three flights of stairs, her arms filled with the heavy texts for four classes, her backpack loaded with notebooks and other supplies. B Jamala huffed and puffed. C Never again would she register for all of her classes back-to-back on the same days of the week.
17.
A As quietly as possible, Sherri tried to open the one-pound bag of candy on her lap. B
Finally, the tough plastic split open. C Causing an explosion of chocolate balls that bounced and rolled down the aisles of Dr. Wilson's chemistry class.
18.
A Each morning when Helene is fixing her hair in the bathroom. B She applies many sticky hair products. C During a typical day, she catches more bugs in her coif than most spiders manage to land in their webs in a week.