Combination Combining sentences for greater fluency

Sentence Fluency 6/6  The writing is smooth, natural, and easy to read on the first try.  Almost every sentence begins differently – unless repetition is used for effect.  The piece invites expressive read-alouds that brings out voice.  The writing has an effective, appealing cadence or rhythm.

Personally, I think that grammar is a way to attain beauty. When you speak, or read, or write, you can tell if what you ’ ve said or read or written is a fine sentence. You can recognize a well-turned phrase or an elegant style. But when you are applying the rules of grammar skillfully, you ascend to another level of the beauty of language. When you use grammar, you peel back the layers, to see how it is all put together, see it quite naked, in a way. Muriel Barbery from her novel The Elegance of the Hedgehog

What you might do: Use punctuation creatively Re-order sentences and sentence fragments Add prepositions, and conjunctions, and articles Remove words without losing meaning

Sherman Alexie from Superman and Me combine the following two sentences: I can remember picking up my father's books. It was before I could read. “ I can remember picking up my father's books before I could read. ”

Sherman Alexie from Superman and Me combine the following four sentences: I still remember the exact moment when I first understood. I understood the purpose of a paragraph. It was with sudden clarity. The words themselves were mostly foreign. “ The words themselves were mostly foreign, but I still remember the exact moment when I first understood, with a sudden clarity, the purpose of a paragraph. ”

Sherman Alexie from Superman and Me combine the following two sentences: I realized that a paragraph was a fence that held words. I didn ’ t have the vocabulary to say paragraph. “ I didn't have the vocabulary to say paragraph, but I realized that a paragraph was a fence that held words. ”

Sherman Alexie from Superman and Me combine the following four sentences: The words inside a paragraph worked together. It was for a common purpose. This knowledge delighted me. They had some specific reason for being inside the same fence. “ The words inside a paragraph worked together for a common purpose. They had some specific reason for being inside the same fence. This knowledge delighted me. ”

I can remember picking up my father's books before I could read. The words themselves were mostly foreign, but I still remember the exact moment when I first understood, with a sudden clarity, the purpose of a paragraph. I didn't have the vocabulary to say "paragraph," but I realized that a paragraph was a fence that held words. The words inside a paragraph worked together for a common purpose. They had some specific reason for being inside the same fence. This knowledge delighted me. Sherman Alexie from his essay Superman and Me

Sentence Fluency 6/6  The writing is smooth, natural, and easy to read on the first try.  Almost every sentence begins differently – unless repetition is used for effect.  The piece invites expressive read-alouds that brings out voice.  The writing has an effective, appealing cadence or rhythm.

combine the following four sentences: I was obsessed. I wouldn ’ t quit. My grades suffered. I didn ’ t care. “ I was obsessed. I wouldn't quit. My grades suffered. I didn't care. ” - Ernest Cline, Ready Player One

Sentence Fluency 6/6  The writing is smooth, natural, and easy to read on the first try.  Almost every sentence begins differently – unless repetition is used for effect.  The piece invites expressive read-alouds that brings out voice.  The writing has an effective, appealing cadence or rhythm.

Martin Luther King, Jr. combine the following four sentences: People fear each other because they don ’ t know each other. People fail to get along because they fear each other. They don ’ t know each other. They have not communicated with each other. “ People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don't know each other; they don't know each other because they have not communicated with each other. ”

Sentence Fluency 6/6  The writing is smooth, natural, and easy to read on the first try.  Almost every sentence begins differently – unless repetition is used for effect.  The piece invites expressive read-alouds that brings out voice.  The writing has an effective, appealing cadence or rhythm.

Martin Luther King, Jr. combine the following four sentences: If you can ’ t fly then run. Whatever you do you have to keep moving forward. If you can ’ t walk then crawl. If you can ’ t run then walk. “ If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward. ”

Sentence Fluency 6/6  The writing is smooth, natural, and easy to read on the first try.  Almost every sentence begins differently – unless repetition is used for effect.  The piece invites expressive read-alouds that brings out voice.  The writing has an effective, appealing cadence or rhythm.

Martin Luther King, Jr. combine the following four sentences: One ’ s dignity may be assaulted. One ’ s dignity may be vandalized. One ’ s dignity may be cruelly mocked. It can never be taken away unless it is surrendered. “ One's dignity may be assaulted, vandalized, cruelly mocked, but it can never be taken away unless it is surrendered. ”