©2004abcteach.com. Combining Ideas to Form Sentences. Read each group of
sentences. Locate the main action verb and highlight it. Then highlight the key ...
Writing: Sentences
Name ____________________________________________ Date _________________
Combining Ideas to Form Sentences Read each group of sentences. Locate the main action verb and highlight it. Then highlight the key words that answer the following questions: 1. 2. 3. 4.
Who or what is doing the action? What is the subject using? What kind of? How?
5. 6. 7. 8.
Why? Where? When? What is the action?
After you have underlined or highlighted the key words, decide what or who is doing the action. Then use the main verb. Add the rest of the key words and extra words that are needed to help the sentence make sense. Make sure your words are in a logical order. The object is to combine all the sentences into one or two longer sentences without changing the meaning of the group of shorter sentences. Use the word and only once for each group of sentences. • • • • • • • • • •
There was a squirrel. It was fuzzy. It was brown. It scampered. It went up the tree. There was a cat. It was white. It was fat. It hunted the squirrel. It was hungry.
1. _____________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ • • • • • • • • •
There was a skater. She was graceful. She was athletic. She performed tricks. She worked for the Ice Follies. The Ice Follies was in Baltimore City. She worked each night. She skated skillfully. She was doing this to support her family.
2. _____________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
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Writing: Sentences
Name ____________________________________________ Date _________________ • • • • • • •
The girl sang a song. The girl sang harmoniously. The girl was tall. The song was cheerful. She sang at the school talent show. The school play was held last night. It was done in the auditorium.
3. _____________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ • • • • • • • •
The band played last night. The band is called “The Skeptics”. They were at the high school auditorium. They were playing songs. Teenagers were dancing. The teenagers were having fun. They were laughing. The music was lively.
4. _____________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ • • • • • •
The baby cried. It was 9 months old. It was a girl. She was hungry. Her name is Lilly. This happened yesterday.
5. _____________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ • • • • • • •
Jimmy was using the computer. He was at home. He was writing his story. He was doing this last night. The story was about his vacation. His family had gone to Florida. It was during the summer.
6. _____________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
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Writing: Sentences
Name ____________________________________________ Date _________________ • • • • • • •
I traveled to Switzerland. I went four years ago. I was with a tour group. There were 24 people on the bus. The trip lasted 2 weeks. A friend came with me. Her name is Nellie.
7. _____________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ • • • • • • • • • • • • •
I saw an accident. It happened yesterday morning during rush hour. It happened on the Interstate 97. It involved two cars. One car was blue. It was a Ford. The other car was red. It was a Dodge. The Ford ran into the Dodge. It hit the Dodge on the side. That was the passenger side. The Ford swerved around a dog. That was when it hit the Dodge.
8. _____________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
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Writing: Sentences
Name ____________________________________________ Date _________________
Writing Cause and Effect Sentences Below are different situations. Each of the situations can be considered effects, since they were caused by other events. For each effect, think of at least two possible causes and write them on the first lines. Then, using words such as because, since, therefore, due to, or so, combine one of the causes with the effect to form a complete sentence. For example: Effect-I left my notebook at home. Possible causes:
I forgot to pack it in my backpack. My baby brother hid the notebook.
Because my baby brother hid the notebook, I left it at home. OR Since I forgot to pack it in my backpack, I left my notebook at home. 1. late for school possible cause: ______________________________________________________________ possible cause: ______________________________________________________________ cause and effect sentence: ___________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ 2. received a high score on a test that was quite difficult possible cause: ______________________________________________________________ possible cause: ______________________________________________________________ cause and effect sentence: ___________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ 3. didn’t have enough money for lunch possible cause: ______________________________________________________________ possible cause: ______________________________________________________________ cause and effect sentence: ___________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ 4. left the school dance possible cause: ______________________________________________________________ possible cause: ______________________________________________________________ cause and effect sentence: ___________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________
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Writing: Sentences
Name ____________________________________________ Date _________________
Writing Cause and Effect Sentences There are several examples of “cause and effect” in The Three Little Pigs. Three effects are listed below. Write the causes on the line below each effect, and then combine the cause and effect in the order they occurred into a sentence using the words because, since, therefore, due to, or so. 1. The wolf was able to blow down the first pig’s house. cause: _______________________________________________________________________ cause and effect sentence: ___________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ 2. The wolf was able to blow down the second pig’s house. cause: _______________________________________________________________________ cause and effect sentence: ___________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ 3. The wolf could not blow down the third pig’s house. cause: _______________________________________________________________________ cause and effect sentence: ___________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ Think of another classic story that shows examples of cause and effect. Write some cause and effect sentences to summarize the events of the story below: 1.
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2.
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3.
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4.
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5.
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Writing: Sentences
Name ____________________________________________ Date _________________
Writing Sentences for Contrasting For this exercise, divide into pairs. You may also work individually, thinking of a famous person or someone you know. First, think of at least ten ways that you and your partner are different. You may list differences in appearance and personality, etc. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
__________________________ __________________________ __________________________ __________________________ __________________________
6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
__________________________ __________________________ __________________________ __________________________ __________________________
Contrasting sentences combine two different ideas and compare them. Look at the examples below: Mary is quite tall, whereas I am short. While Mary was born in Virginia, I was born in Maryland. Mary likes to roller blade, but I would rather ride my bicycle. Although we both like to sing, Mary is in the school chorus. Write five sentences showing ways you and your partner are different, using the words listed above. Use words such as while, although, even though, whereas, and but to connect two contrasting ideas. 1.
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2.
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3.
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4.
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5.
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Writing: Sentences
Name ____________________________________________ Date _________________
Expanding Sentences For each short sentence below, imagine probable details that would answer the following questions: • • • • •
What kind of? Where? When? How? Why?
Then rewrite the sentence using the added details in appropriate places. For example: The baby cried. What kind of baby?-chubby Why? Missed her parents How? loudly When? this morning Where? in the nursery This morning in the nursery, a chubby baby cried loudly because she missed her parents. 1. The horse galloped. ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 2. The car speeded. ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 3. A wolf howled. ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 4. An owl hooted. ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 5. The crowd cheered. ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________
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Writing: Sentences
Name ____________________________________________ Date _________________
More Expanding Sentences For each short sentence, add details that answer the questions listed below. What kind of? Where? When? Why? How? 1. The farmer worked. ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 2. A reporter wrote. ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 3. A mouse squeaked. ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 4. The bells rang. ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 5. The ball bounced. ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 6. The water rippled. ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 7. A hawk shrieked. ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 8. A lion roared. ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________
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Writing: Sentences
Name ____________________________________________ Date _________________ Combining Ideas to Form Sentences Answers will vary; the following are suggestions only: 1. The fuzzy brown squirrel scampered up the tree hunted by the hungry fat white cat. 2. The graceful and athletic skater performed tricks and skated skillfully for the Ice Follies in Baltimore City every night to support her family. 3. The tall girl harmoniously sang a cheerful song at the school talent show in the auditorium last night. 4. “The Skeptics” played songs last night at a high school auditorium. Teenagers were laughing, having fun, and dancing to the lively music. 5. Yesterday, Lilly, a nine-month-old baby girl, cried because she was hungry. 6. Last night, Jimmy was at home, using the computer to write a story about his family’s summer vacation in Florida. 7. Four years ago, I traveled to Switzerland for two weeks with my friend Nellie, on a tour bus with 24 people. 8. Yesterday morning during rush hour, I saw a two-car accident on Interstate 97. The driver of a blue Ford swerved around a dog and hit a red Dodge on the passenger side. All Other Exercises Answers will vary; accept all reasonable answers.
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