Being able to write a complete sentence is the foundation upon which all writing skills are built. It sounds simple enough, right? As we teachers know, however, some students struggle with forming a complete sentence, even in the upper elementary grades. If they make it too short and omit the all-important subject, they're left with a fragment. If they string too many ideas together and make it too long, they're left with a run-on sentence. To quote Goldilocks, it needs to be "just right". Today I'm going to share a couple tips with you that you can use as you teach your students how to recognize and revise fragments and run-on sentences.
