1. SENTENCE FLUENCY

2. THE SOUND OF A SENTENCE  A sentence can poke turtle – like on a page. It can leap like an antelope playing. It can vary from short to the lengthier sort, Depending on what you are saying. When you read with your eye and hear with your ear, Your readers will love what you’re writing. A balance of turtle and antelope sentences Helps make your piece exciting. “He screamed!” is a sentence both short and direct. It grabs us. It holds our attention. But where he screamed and why he screamed Deserve more than two words mention. So vary the patterns and go with the flow And polish the lines ‘til they glisten. To learn if you’ve done what you set out to do, Read it aloud, and listen.

3. DEFINITION  Sentence Fluency: how words and phrases flow through a piece of writing.

4. KEY QUALITIES OF SENTENCE FLUENCY  Crafting well-built sentences  Varying sentence types  Capturing smooth and rhythmic flow  Breaking the rules to create fluency

5. CRAFTING WELL-BUILT SENTENCES  Do my sentences begin in different ways?  Are my sentences of different lengths?  Are my sentences grammatically correct unless constructed creatively for impact?  Have I used conjunctions such as but, and, and so to connect parts of sentences?

6. IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF THE SENTENCES  I wanted to get an iPod. I asked my dad for one. I asked over and over. I wanted an iPod very badly. I wanted it for my birthday. I waited until my birthday. I didn’t get an iPod that day. I was disappointed.

7. THINK ABOUT: VARYING SENTENCE TYPE  Do I include different kinds of sentences?  Are some of my sentences complex?  Are some of my sentences simple?  Did I intermingle sentence types, one to the next?

8. THINK ABOUT: CAPTURING SMOOTH AND RHYTHMIC FLOW  Is reading the entire piece aloud easy?  Do my sentences flow, one to the next?  Do individual passages sound smooth when I read them aloud?  Did I thoughtfully place different sentence types to enhance the main idea?

9. THINK ABOUT: BREAKING THE “RULES” TO CREATE FLUENCY  Did I use fragments with style and purpose?  Do I begin a sentence informally to create a conversational tone?  Does my dialogue sound authentic?  Did I try weaving in exclamations and single words to add emphasis?

10. SINGLE SYLLABLE WORDS  Write a short story or essay using only single-syllable words.  Example… Big words can make the way dark for those who read what you write and hear what you say. Small words cast their clear light on big things – night and day, love and hate, war and peace, life and death. Small words are the ones we seem to have known from the time we are born, like the hearth fire that warms the home.