Agenda
Run-ons and Comma Splices
We will take notes on the video and play a few games to practice. You may have to play the HTML versions of these games.
Play this
and this
or this
A run-on is a sentence in which two or more independent clauses (i.e complete sentences) are joined without an appropriate punctuation or conjunction for example: It is nearly half past five we cannot reach town before dark.
Sentence fragments are groups of words that look like sentences, but aren't. To be a sentence, groups of words need to have at least one independent clause. An independent clause is any group of words that contain both a subject and a verb and can stand on its own. For example, 'I like cheeseburgers' is an independent clause.
Sentence fragments never have independent clauses, but instead are dependent clauses or phrases. Fragments can masquerade as real sentences because they begin with a capital letter and end with a period. If you read them more closely, you'll see that fragments don't form a complete thought. A sentence fragment is a little like having only half of the pieces to a puzzle. Without all the pieces, you won't have the whole picture.
Examples and Revisions
Fragment Phrases
Phrases are groups of words that are missing a subject or verb, or both. Phrases can also masquerade as sentences, like dependent clauses can. Here are some examples.
Here's an example missing subject and verb:
From morning until night.
This fragment can be made a complete sentence by changing it to:
I worked from morning until night.
Adding 'I' as the subject and 'worked' as the verb corrects this fragment and makes it an independent clause and a complete thought.
Here's an example of a missing subject:
Start after the weekend.
This fragment can be made a complete sentence by changing it to:
Classes start after the weekend.
Adding the subject 'classes' corrects this fragment and makes it an independent clause and a complete thought.
Finally, here's an example of a missing verb:
Some girls in the class.
This fragment can be changed to:
Some girls in the class study together.
Adding the verb 'study' corrects this fragment and makes it an independent clause and a complete thought.
Peer Feedback on Book Reviews
Student Example of Book Review
TO DO
AOW due Friday. Read Newsela article, take quiz, and write 3/4 page personal response.
Book review submitted to turnitin.com by tomorrow night at 10PM.
