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Effective Instructional Strategies

Improving Sentence Writing Ability Through Sentence-Combining Practice

TEACHING Exceptional Children, Vol. 39, No. 3, pp. 6-11. Copyright 2007 CEC.

Bruce Saddler • Jennifer Preschern

Young writers usually begin to write by creating sentences. They learn to create sentences by expressing what their teachers term complete thoughts. After mastering this feat, they move on to creating sentences that declare, question, or exclaim. Finally, they string together enough sentences to qualify as a paragraph and then a short story. But this process can be derailed when young writers encounter the challenges of writing sentences. Creating well constructed sentences is challenging for most writers. For less skilled writers, including writers with learning disabilities (LD), it can be even more difficult. These writers generally produce less syntactically complex sentences that contain more grammatical errors (Myklebust, 1973). They may also produce sentences that are shorter; have higher percentages of capitalization, punctuation, and spelling errors; and are lower in overall quality than 6



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those of their average-achieving peers (Graham & Harris, 1989; Myklebust). Anderson (1982) suggests that less skilled writers have more missing subjects and verbs in their writing than regularly achieving students, and more often overuse the connector and. Pete was a third grader, and one of these less skilled writers. Two years ago, he was identified as having a learning disability. His Wechsler (WISC-R; Wechsler, 1974) performance standard score was 84 and he had a second-grade reading level, according to the Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT-3; Wilkinson, 1993). His individualized education program (IEP) included a written expression goal, and his teacher reported that his stories were very short, lacked interest, and often contained simple, repetitive sentences. Pete did not like writing very much and often could not think of what to say when asked to write. Pete’s teacher, Ms. Asaro, used a writing workshop approach in her classroom. Ms. Asaro enjoyed teaching writing and gave her students time every day to write. In addition, she met

with each of her students regularly and provided minilessons to sharpen skills that needed additional support. She would often model writing tasks, and also allowed her students choice in writing topics. Early in the year, Pete wrote a story for Ms. Asaro I saw a girl named cat at the snow arena. She was zooming up the hill on her jet pack. It was amazing. I wish I had one. She showed me where to get one. I get one and I was happy. The End. Ms. Asaro decided that the short, choppy sentences Pete used to compose his stories were actually making his writing less enjoyable to read. She decided to include a writing technique that she had read about in her instruction for Pete: sentence combining. She believed that this supplemental sentence-level instruction would help Pete create better, more varied sentences that might also make his stories more interesting. In this article, we discuss the benefits of sentence combining and how sentence-combining practice can help writers craft more interesting sentences that convey their ideas in a variety of ways. In addition, we provide suggestions to assist teachers in adding sentence-combining instruction to their current writing instruction.

Sentence Combining Sentence combining was originally developed in the 1970s to provide systematic instruction in sentence construction skills. Despite evidence that sentence combining can be used to improve students’ sentence construction skills (Hillocks, 1986; O’Hare, 1973), such instruction is not a frequently included component in popular whole-language approaches to writing instruction, such as Writers’ Workshop (Pritchard, 1987). However, many students with writing disabilities may require more explicit and focused instruction (Harris & Graham, 1996). Sentence combining can provide systematic instruction in sentence construction skills within an overall framework of the writing workshop. In fact, researchers have found that sentencecombining practice can help young writers create qualitatively better stories and increase the amount and quality of revisions (Saddler & Graham, 2005).

Sentence-combining practice can help writers craft more interesting sentences that convey their ideas in a variety of ways.

What Does the Literature Say About Sentence-Combining Practice?

Researchers have documented the positive effects of sentence-combining practice with writers from elementary age (Gale, 1968) through college (Smith & Combs, 1980). Researched areas include (a) the efficacy of oral training (Ney, 1966); (b) the impact on reading rate and comprehension, (Wilkinson & Patty, 1993); (c) the less skilled writer (Saddler & Graham, 2005); and (d) the durability of gains (Combs, 1975). However, despite generally strong evidence of its effectiveness from many research efforts in the 1970s and 1980s, sentence combining is not well known or used in classrooms today. In a recent study by Saddler and Graham (2005), the researchers assessed the effects of a sentence-combining procedure involving peer-assisted practice with more and less skilled young writers. Forty-two students in the fourth grade received either sentence-combining instruction or grammar instruction. Students were paired for instruction and received thirty 25-minute lessons, three times a week for 10 weeks outside their regular classrooms. The results indicated that in comparison to peers receiving grammar instruction, students in the experimental treatment condition became more adept at combining simpler sentences together to create more complex sentences. In addition, the experimental students' sentence-combining skills transferred to a story-writing task, which resulted in improvements in both writing quality and revising ability.

learning and manipulating syntactic options in their own writings.

✍ Students may reduce the choppy or run-on sentence style. Specific pattern drill and mindful syntactic manipulation allow the writers to become aware of syntactic alternatives. This awareness may boost students’ confidence in their ability to manipulate sentence syntax, and make them more willing to vary, experiment, and innovate in their writing.

✍ Sentence-combining exercises can Sentence combining provides direct, mindful practice in manipulating and rewriting basic or kernel sentences into more syntactically mature or varied forms (Strong, 1976). Through the process of constructing and changing sentences, students learn to untangle, tighten, and rewrite sentences that may be too complex for a reader to easily understand. Conversely, students who may write short, choppy sentences can learn to change these sentences into more varied and syntactically complex sentences that better reflect what they want to say. Sentence-combining practice may improve writing in four ways.

✍ Students start considering the reader’s perspective during the process of

illustrate how punctuation organizes sentence elements and may help students become confident about punctuation (Lindemann, 1995).

✍ Sentence-combining practice may foster revision skills by providing an organized knowledge of syntactic structures that enable writers to consider alternatives in sentence structures (Hillocks, 1986; see box, “What Does the Literature Say About Sentence-Combining Practice?”). Instructional Recommendations Sentence combining can be easily taught and practiced alongside the writing process approach whether in an inclusive classroom, a resource room, or a self-contained setting. The exercises

can be introduced and practiced at any time, although writers may most effectively apply it during the revising stages (as students review their writing to determine if sentence-level changes can be made). In the following sections we describe how to introduce sentence combining, provide examples of using such exercises to improve sentence variety and correct fragments and run-on sentences, and offer suggestions on evaluating student responses. Creating Exercises

The first step in creating sentence-combining exercises is to analyze a sample of your student’s writing to determine what skills need to be acquired (see Table 1). For example, Ms. Asaro noticed after reading Pete’s writing sample that many of his sentences followed a very similar simple pattern that made his stories hard to read and not very enjoyable. Pete was the only writer in her class that she believed needed direct sentence-level instruction; however, if several students or the whole class lacked the same skill, she could teach these activities to the entire group (see Table 1). Even if the student’s writing does not have many short, choppy sentences, as Pete’s had, it is usually best to start with

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Table 1. Creating Sentence-Combining Exercises

Instructional Approach

Original Sentences

Combined Sentence

Cued exercises

The cake was delicious. The cake was chocolate.

The chocolate cake was delicious.

provide the student with a “clue word” to prompt a certain sentence combination.

The redundant information in the second sentence has been eliminated, and only the underlined clue word included in the new combination.

OR provide the student with a parenthetical word at the end of the sentence to be combined.

The boy fell over the chair. He lost his balance. (because)

The boy lost his balance because he fell over the chair.

Once students are comfortable with combining sentences using clues or parenthetical words, the teacher can move to open instruction. Open exercises require the student to decide what important material in the second sentence to include in a combined sentence. Many sentence combinations are possible.

The boy fell over the chair. The chair was broken.

The boy fell over the broken chair. With practice, the student understands that the word “broken” in the second sentence offers new information and should be included in the new combination.

Once students are comfortable with combining two or three kernel sentences, the intellectual stakes can be raised. Open, naturalistic exercises elicit many interesting combinations and would provide a meaningful conversation regarding which version sounds best.

The apple fell. The apple was green. It fell from the branch. It didn't hit anyone.

The green apple fell from the branch, hitting no one. OR Falling from the branch, the green apple did not hit anyone. OR The green apple did not hit anyone when it fell from the branch.

exercises that combine two simple sentences to make one sentence with compound parts or one compound sentence. Keep the two sentences in the exercise as similar as possible, except for the words to be combined. For example, choose sentences such as The dog is big. The dog ran fast. Initially, exercises can be created from a literature series or other classroom books by simply reducing a passage into kernel sentences. Well-known stories can be reduced to kernels and then rewritten by student pairs. The new versions could then be read and discussed for rhetorical effect. Classroom activities or school events could also be sources of inspiration, along with the lives and interests of the stu8



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dents themselves. Textbooks, newspapers, and magazines also provide suitable content for sentence-combining exercises. These sources provide a bonus for students by providing information on a new concept or reinforcing a lesson while practicing writing. These contrived exercises can be expanded so students can work and rework their own prose, thereby practicing controlling and manipulating the syntactic options available to them within their actual writing (Strong, 1986). The most naturalistic way to engage students at their level of understanding and to also provide direct resolution of problems associated with a current piece of writing is to use students’ work.

Introducing Sentence Combining

Introduce sentence-combining exercises to the class by explaining that this activity will help the students write more interesting sentences that will also sound better to readers. Add that good writers often work with their sentences to make them sound better. Make it clear that there will usually be more than one answer for many of the problems and that mistakes are opportunities for learning. Explain that mistakes are expected, as many of the students may be experiencing certain sentence combinations for the first time. Begin with whole-class discussion by showing students a simple pair of kernels and modeling how to combine them. Then share what your thinking

was in performing the combination and why the new combination sounds better. Suggest that when combining sentences, they may move words or parts around, delete or change words or parts, or add words or parts to the sentences to make them sound better—just as skilled writers do. If necessary, circle the words that are the same in both sentences, and show how redundant information can be eliminated. Write all the different possibilities on the board, and explain why some options are better than others. After modeling several sentences, the students should practice either independently or with a peer, with teacher support as needed. After allowing the students some time to work on practice sentence combinations, have them share all the different possible solutions, either orally or by writing responses on an overhead or board. Point out the best options, and discuss why they are better. During these discussions, researchers suggest including oral practice along with written (Frank, 1993; Strong, 1986). Oral practice can be included simply and effectively by presenting kernel sentence clusters on an overhead and then asking student pairs to discuss the kernels and provide examples of combinations. The teachers can write down, read aloud, and then discuss suggestions provided by several student pairs to identify which “sound” the best. Using Sentence Combining to Teach Sentence Variety

Once students understand the concept of combining sentences, sentences can be varied and specific skills can be targeted. For example, to teach more sophisticated time transitions, choose two sentences such as The woman opened her front door. Then, the telephone rang. Ask the students how they could combine these sentences and eliminate redundant information. If the students cannot brainstorm complex sentences such as Before the telephone rang, the woman opened the front door or Just as the woman opened the front door, the telephone rang, a list can be provided with different possible time transition words such as before, after, when, while, by the time, until, whenever, as, and as soon as.

Encourage students to try combining the sentences using all the different types of transitions that express time, and discuss how the different transitions affect the meaning of the sentence.

Once students understand the concept of combining sentences, sentences can be varied and specific skills targeted. After the students have practiced sentence combining as an isolated skill, choose a paragraph that lacks the target skill area. For example, narrative paragraphs with short, choppy sentences are ideal for modeling compound sentences. Descriptive paragraphs (with many sentences beginning with then) are a good model for subordinate clauses for time relationships. Improve descriptive paragraphs by adding adjective clauses or appositives, which result in more sophisticated sentences. Choose a writing sample and work with the students to edit and combine the sentences for better grammatical flow. Practice further by combining underdeveloped or choppy sentences. During this process, it is important to focus on creating better, more meaningful sentences, not on editing the work for spelling mistakes or other technical writing problems. Using Sentence-Combining Activities to Correct Run-ons and Fragments

Run-ons and fragments often stem from difficulty understanding punctuation marks and sentence boundaries. Students frequently use and, but, and or to create incredibly long sentences, or fail to include punctuation where necessary. Sentence-combining activities can help students understand how sentences function. The first step is to analyze a student’s writing to determine what kind of errors they are making. Run-on sentence mistakes typically fall into one of

two categories: failing to use periods to separate thoughts, or using too many conjunctions such as and, but, and so to connect ideas. Fragments usually result when students either fail to complete a thought, or start a thought with a subordinate conjunction. Even though students may make more than one type of mistake, choose just one to target. For example, choose to work on eliminating run-ons that overuse conjunctions to connect ideas. In order to target run-ons that fail to use punctuation, compare the sentence to an island that can stand alone and then provide the students with two sentences to combine. Show them how each independent sentence can stand alone. Identify the subject, predicate, and modifiers in each individual sentence. As a group, work on ways to combine the sentences. Often, students fail to add punctuation marks because they are trying to create sentence variety. Because they do not understand how to create grammatical complexity, they end up with run-ons. Once they can manipulate sentences, they become aware of the boundaries among ideas. Use the same sort of activities to help eliminate run-ons that use conjunctions to connect too many ideas. When introducing the activity, write the overused conjunction onto a picture of a bridge. (See sidebar, “How Bridge Conjunctions Link Ideas.”) Tell students that conjunctions (specifically and, but, and so) work as bridges to link ideas. When there are too many bridges in a sentence, it becomes difficult to “cross” and the reader cannot understand the author’s meaning. Write a run-on sentence such as, My mom goes to work in the morning and then she comes home at night and then she makes dinner and then she reads me a story on the board. Replace all the ands with pictures of bridges to help the students visualize the problems with the sentence. Once students see how run-ons can be confusing, pick sentences that can be combined using the overused conjunction. When students understand the purpose and function of these conjunctions, they will be less likely to misuse them. Sentence-combining activities are also effective for eliminating sentence

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How Bridge Conjunctions Link Ideas

My mom goes to work in the morning night

then she makes dinner

fragments that start with subordinate conjunctions. Students often write fragments because they don’t understand the purpose of the cohesive words. Just as with the previously discussed method of teaching students how to eliminate run-ons, choose two sentences that can be combined using the conjunction that is often misused in the writing. Figure 1 illustrates which sentence-combining skills respond to specific writing needs. Sentence Combining During Revising

Once the revision process has been modeled, have the students edit one of their own pieces of writing. The goal is for them to find two or three places to add sentence variety, ideally using the skill that has been taught. For example, if you have been working on writing more sophisticated paragraphs by using participle phrases, have the students either choose a sentence that can be embellished using a participle phrase, or identify two sentences that can be combined to create one sentence with a participle phrase. If necessary, help them find places to make changes. Again, the focus is on improving meaning, not on writing mechanics such as spelling or punctuation. After the students have proofread a previous piece, assign a new writing topic; in this piece, the students should include at least two sentences that target the writing goal. For example, if working on cause/effect subordinate clauses, there should be two sentences that correctly use because, since, so, or even though. Because the overall goal of writing is meaning, not just grammar, also allow the students to add these 10



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grammatically complex sentences during the revision process. Another great way to increase students’ metacognitive awareness of the skill is to have them proofread each others’ work. Have the students look for one sentence that they think is written well in a partner’s work, and one place where there could be a revision. Allow the students about 10 to 15 minutes to work while providing assistance to those who need it. Then, ask students to provide one positive comment and one corrective comment on their partners’ work. Students really enjoy being sentence detectives. In addition, it helps them see that the revising process is not just about fixing spelling and making capital letters! Evaluating Responses

While rating responses, students may want to establish criteria to help them test the overall “correctness” of a combined sentence. Although our language does have rules governing syntax, don’t launch into a detailed discussion about the grammatical issues in play. Effectiveness is a much better indicator of merit. Gauging effectiveness encourages risk taking as it welcomes “mistakes” as opportunities for problem solving. Within this context, “mistakes” become sentences that can be formed in better ways than the writer originally tried. Nemans (1995) recommends three standards to aid students in gauging the effectiveness of responses: (a) clarity and directness of meaning, (b) rhythmic appeal, and (c) intended audience. Think of the reasons you like to read your favorite author. Why does their writing appeal to you? Initially, these three standards could be applied to sentence combinations through teacher

then she reads me a story

modeling and discussion. Students could then use the standards to rate each other’s responses. These questions can also serve as whole-class discussion starters about sentence combining. Final Thoughts Although sentence-combining exercises have proven effective in increasing the syntactical fluency of writers (Saddler & Graham, 2005), they only represent one component within a writing program. Ms. Asaro supplemented her writing instruction with sentence-combining practice for Pete; she did not replace any of her other instruction. As Ms. Asaro discovered, these exercises were not a “quick-fix.” Pete needed 2 months of practice via short, frequent minilessons before Ms. Asaro noticed his writing consistently improving. Ms. Asaro collected this writing sample from Pete following their practice: There was an alien who crashed on the earth. His name was Joe. He went to the phone and called the police. The police didn’t hear him, so he hung up. Then last night he went over to his space ship and boom! a lot of smoke came out. He couldn’t believe it, but he did. So he got working on it but before it was almost done he fell asleep. That night a squirrel came out and fixed it and then went away. In the morning he woke up and said, Wow. Then he got in and went home. The End. Ms. Asaro used sentence-combining exercises as one component in a wellrounded writing program that included ample time for writing, conferencing between peers and teachers, minilessons to increase skills, teacher modeling, and choice in assignments to fill a much needed void in her instruction.

Figure 1. Sentence-Combining Skills for Specific Writing Needs

Student writing has short, choppy sentences

Student writing uses first, second, third, then, and next as the only transitions

Student writing overuses but and so

Student writing is unsophisticated and simplistic



Teach how to make compound subjects, predicates, and adjective modifiers Teach how to make compound sentences using and, but, and or



Teach how to make complex sentences using subordinate clauses that express time relationships, using before, after, when, while, by the time, until, whenever, as, and as soon as



Teach how to make complex sentences using subordinate clauses that express cause and effect relationships using because, since, so and even though



The time invested in direct skill instruction on the sentence level benefited Pete, as his sentences were more varied and interesting and the overall quality of his stories improved. Although writing sentences can test a writer’s ability, by supplementing your writing curriculum with sentence-combining instruction, you can help your students craft sentences that are varied and interesting. Through sentence-combining instruction, the “Petes” in your classroom can learn and practice an important writing skill that will help improve their writing performance. References Anderson, P. L. (1982). A preliminary study of syntax in the written expression of learning disabled children. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 15, 359–362. Combs, W. E. (1975). Some further effects and implications of sentence combining exercises for the secondary language arts

Teach how to make complex sentences using subordinate clauses that express conditional relationships, using unless, if, although, and otherwise Teach how to use adjective phrases using who, whom, whose, that, and which; appositives; and participle phrases

curriculum. Dissertation Abstracts International, 36, A1266. Frank, M. (1993). Using sentence-combining to teach sentence structure. A demonstration given at TESOL meetings and at meetings abroad, New York, NY. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 366 208) Gale, I. F. (1968). An experimental study of two fifth grade language arts programs (Doctoral dissertation, Ball State University, 1968). Dissertation Abstracts International, 28, A4156. Graham, S., & Harris, K. (1989). Improving learning disabled students’ skills at composing essays: Self-instructional strategy training. Exceptional Children, 56, 201–214. Harris, K., & Graham, S. (1996). Memo to constructivists: Skills count, too. Educational Leadership, 53, 26–29. Hillocks, G. (1986). Research on written composition. Urbana, IL: ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading and Communication Skills. Lindemann, E. (1995). A rhetoric for writing teachers. New York: Oxford University Press.

Myklebust, H. R. (1973). Development and disorders of written language, Vol. 2: Studies of normal and exceptional children. New York: Grune & Stratton. Nemans, B. S. (1995). Teaching students to write. New York: Oxford University Press. Ney, J. W. (1966). Applied linguistics in the seventh grade. English Journal, 25, 895–897. O’Hare, F. (1973). Sentence combining: Improving student writing without formal grammar instruction. Champaign, IL: National Council of Teachers of English. Pritchard, R. (1987). Effects on student writing of teacher training in the National Writing Project Model. Written Communication, 4, 51–67. Saddler, B., & Graham, S. (2005). The effects of peer-assisted sentence combining instruction on the writing of more and less skilled young writers. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97(1), 43–54. Smith, W. L., & Combs, W. E. (1980). The effects of overt and covert cues on written syntax. Research in the Teaching of English, 14, 19-38. Strong, W. (1976). Close-up: Sentence combining. English Journal, 24, 56–65. Strong, W. (1986). Creative approaches to sentence combining. Urbana, IL: ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading and Communication Skills and the National Council of Teachers of English. Wechsler, D. (1974). Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised. New York: Psychological Corp. Wilkinson, G. (1993). WRAT-3: Wide Range Achievement Test, Wilmington, DE: Wide Range, Inc. Wilkinson, P. A., & Patty, D. (1993). The effects of sentence combining on the reading comprehension of fourth grade students. Research in the Teaching of English, 27, 104–121. Bruce Saddler (CEC NY Federation), Assistant Professor, Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology, Division of Special Education, University of Albany. Jennifer Preschern, Reading and Language Specialist, LEAP Learning Systems, Evanston, Illinois. Address correspondence to Bruce Saddler, Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology, University of Albany, Albany, NY 12222 (e-mail: [email protected]. edu). Author’s Note: “Pete” and “Ms. Asaro” are pseudonyms for an actual third-grade student and his teacher. TEACHING Exceptional Children, Vol. 39, No. 3, pp. 6–11. Copyright 2007 CEC.

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