1. Cleft Sentences
Group 1: Alexandra Burns, Parvesh Chainani, Amélie Durocher, Amanda Montaque, Natalia Perlina

2. Think Pair Share: Get into pairs and spot the difference between these two sets of sentences!
SET A
“It is only to the individual that a soul is given.” ~Albert Einstein
“It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare.” ~Mark Twain
“It amazes me what humans can do, even when streams are flowing down their faces and they stagger on, coughing and searching, and finding.” ~Markus Zusak, The Book Thief
“It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York.” ~Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar

3. A soul is given only to the individual.
SET B
A soul is given only to the individual.
Physical courage is common in the world. Moral courage is rare. This relationship between physical and moral courage in the world is curious.
What humans can do, even when streams are flowing down their faces and they stagger on coughing and searching, and finding, amazes me.
The summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs was a queer, sultry summer, and I didn’t know what I was doing in New York.

4. DISCUSSION ACTIVITY: Leading Questions/ Points
Do you notice anything different between the two sets of sentences?
The first set of sentences are grammatically sound.
The second set of sentences are also grammatically sound.
But, which of the two is more logical? Which of the two conveys more meaning?
THE FIRST ONE, RIGHT? WHY IS IT?

5. INTRODUCING CLEFT SENTENCES
BECAUSE THEY ARE CALLED CLEFT SENTENCES. CLEFT SENTENCES ARE USED TO PLACE EMPHASIS ON PARTICULAR WORDS AND PHRASES
Example:
“It is only to the individual that a soul is given.” ~Albert Einstein
Meaning: Individuals are lucky to have been given a soul
A soul is given only to the individual.
Meaning: Souls are given to individuals (More factual based, indoctrinating or like stating a “universal truth”
DO YOU AGREE? WHY OR WHY NOT?
Does the meaning change? Yes, it does. Albert Einstein places his importance on “the individual” for a reason, i.e. to show how fortunate individuals are to have a soul. Whereas, in the second sentence this tone is not present. The second sentence is more factual based and does not have a tone that conveys “fortune” or “luck”

6. Cleft sentences: What are they?
A cleft sentence is a unique structure used to place emphasis on particular words or clauses in a sentence.
Ex. 1) Regular sentence- Dixon robbed the bank. .
Cleft sentence- It was Dixon who robbed the bank. > Emphasis on ‘Dixon’
Ex. 2) Regular sentence- The teacher wanted her students to succeed.
Cleft sentence- What the teacher wanted was for her students to succeed. > Emphasis on object of clause- her students to succeed

7. Cleft sentences: What are they useful for?
Useful to emphasize mostly in written language
In spoken language, we vary our intonation to emphasize certain words or phrases, however in writing we cannot do this and must use a special structure to show we are placing emphasis on a part of the sentence
Can also be used in speech

8. Cleft sentences: What are they? Video #1 for beginners
Short video for beginners
This video covers the topic in full, describing each of the different types of cleft sentences with examples.
Especially useful for visual learners.
Fun to mix up the usual grammar lesson given by the teacher.

9. VIDEO: ENJOY AND RELAX! (POPCORN BREAK) FOR ADVANCED LEARNERS
A video on cleft sentences. To sum up the previous slides.
Visual learners, prepare yourselves! This may be very interesting for you. Get ready to learn and take some notes…

10. Types of cleft sentences
‘It’ cleft sentences
‘What’ cleft sentences
Pseudo-cleft or cleft-like sentences

11. ‘What’ clauses In ‘What’ sentences What = the subject
What + the clause + the verb <to be>
Emphasis is at the end of the sentence
I would like to buy a vintage car.
Ex: What I would like to buy is a vintage car.

12. ‘It’ clauses It = at the beginning of the sentence
Followed by to be + the focus of the sentence
It + to be + focus
Emphasis at the beginning
Matthew got me interested in vintage cars.
It was Matthew who got me interested in vintage cars.

13. Practice #1: Fill in "It" or "What"
______ was the beautiful blue color that convinced me to buy this sofa.
______ I need now is a good coffee.
______ thrilled me the most about this movie was its plot twist.
______ was the gorgeous whitewall tires that made the car so attractive.

14. Practice #1: Fill in "It" or "What"
__It___ was the beautiful blue color that convinced me to buy this sofa.
__What__ I need now is a good coffee.
__What__ thrilled me the most about this movie was its plot twist.
__It___ was the gorgeous whitewall tires that made the car so attractive.

15. Practice #2: Transform the following sentences
I wanted to buy a vintage auto because of my nostalgia for bygone auto design.
The opportunity to make friendships with the owners of other classic cars was also important.
The beautiful design of the Thunderbird car makes owning it a joy.

16. Practice #2: Transform the following sentences
I wanted to buy a vintage auto because of my nostalgia for bygone auto design.
It is because of my nostalgia for bygone auto design that I wanted to buy a vintage auto.
The opportunity to make friendships with the owners of other classic cars was also important.
What is also important is the opportunity to make friendships with the owners of other classic cars.
The beautiful design of the Thunderbird car makes owning it a joy.
What makes owning the Thunderbird car a joy is its beautiful design.

17. Pseudo-cleft sentences/ cleft-like sentences
Emphasis with relative clauses. Who, where, when and why are used to shift focus to part of a sentence but do not repackage or isolate content. That is why they are not true clefts and are called cleft-like sentences
Person: The person who told me about this was Mike.
Thing: All/something/one thing I want is a cup of tea.
Place: The place where he went for some business is Turkey.
Time: The year when I graduated from university was the most difficult time of my life.
Reason: The reason why I fell out with her was her extreme rudeness.

18. Practice #3: Make cleft-like sentences out of the clauses given below.
Person: Michael Jackson - thrilled the audience.
Thing: He wanted - success.
Place: Michael Jackson lived on - the Neverland Ranch.
Time: Michael Jackson performed “Thriller” - in 1982.
Reason: Michael Jackson wrote songs - because he was inspired.

19. Practice #3: Answer key
Who-cleft: Michael Jackson - thrilled the audience. - Michael Jackson was the person who thrilled the audience.
Thing-cleft: He wanted - success. - All he wanted was success.
Where-cleft: Michael Jackson - Neverland Ranch. - The place where Michael Jackson lived was Neverland Ranch.
When-cleft: Michael Jackson performed “Thriller” - in The year when Michael Jackson made “Thriller” was 1982.
Why-cleft: Michael Jackson wrote songs - because he was inspired. - The reason why he wrote songs was because he was inspired.

20. Problems encountered by ESL students
Word order in cleft sentences
Concept of putting the emphasis on a part of the sentence
Cleft-like/pseudo-cleft sentences
Punctuation in cleft-sentences

21. Practice #4
The following exercises can be incorporated into lessons (in a classroom with technology present) or to give as homework assignments
cleft-sentences.html
Movie segment to have students practice the use of cleft sentences. /

22. Practice #5 http://www.eltbase.com/quiz/205_01.htm Interactive quiz
Unscramble the words to make a cleft sentence
Targets ESL students difficulty with word order in cleft sentences

23. Practice #6 http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/sent- cleft.html
Information on cleft sentences, definition and types
Followed by 3 interactive online exercises

24. Homework Assignments
Go online and complete practice #4, 5 and 6. These can be assigned in different classes, or a couple can be used in a tech-friendly classroom which uses computers during class time.

25. Other Great Web Resources for Consideration
The supplemental web resources provided in the following slides will help to solidify cleft sentence theory learned in class. By using these great tools students will be able to practice this particular subject of grammar in a fun and stimulating way. The links suggested will be explained in detail to assist instructors and students on how to use them successfully for practice and revision.

26. Link 1) http://web. educastur. princast
This is what the main page looks like

27. This is an exercise with a 1 minute timer.
All words that are used in the cleft sentence example are provided but they are jumbled.
Students must click on all words in the correct order to get top results.

28. Let’s say the student presses on the “Check” button after they have constructed the sentence. There is an alert that pops up showing them what they got correct after pressing “OK” they can continue to construct the cleft sentence.

29. If the student is unsure of what to write next, they can press on “Hint”. This button will give them the next correct word in the sentence.

30. Link 2) http://www. eoisantander
This site is for students who have a more advanced understanding of cleft sentences. Students must transform a given sentence into its cleft form.

31. Page Navigation
As student fill in the blank space they can “Check” their answers or receive a “Hint”.

32. Encountering difficulties in more advanced exercises
Difficulty 1: Using the Correct Pronouns
The student may at first use the word “that” following Mr. Palmer, however that is incorrect. As they will find out they must use “who” which is referring to Mr. Palmer.

33. Difficulty 2: Contractions and Changing “I” to “me”
Difficulty 3: Conjugating the Verb
These three challenging examples show that this tool is for more advanced learners.

34. Contributions
Alexandra: Slides 6-8, 22-24: What are cleft sentences, What are they useful for, Video for beginners, Different types of cleft sentences, Practice #5 & 6, Homework assignments, formatting
Parvesh: Slides 2-5, 9: Think Pair Share & discussion activity, Introduction to cleft sentences, Video for advanced learners
Amélie: Slides 11-16, 20-21: What and If clauses and their exercises, Problems encountered by an ESL student, Practice #4 on movie segment
Amanda: Slides 25-33: Other great web resources for consideration, Encountering difficulties in more advanced exercises, title page
Natalia: Slides 17-19: Pseudo-like cleft sentences + Practice #3

35. Works cited
Azevedo, C. (2012) Movie Segments to Assess Grammar Goals. Movie Segments to Assess Grammar Goals. Retrieved from: sentences.html
Educastur. (2010). Cleft sentences II. eBlog. Retrieved from: 2.htm
ELT base. (n.d.) ESL teaching and learning resources for cleft sentences. ELTbase. Retrieved from:
English Practice. (2010). What are cleft sentences? English Practice. Retrieved from:

36. Works cited
Galvan, A. (2014). Cleft Sentences: Potentials and Pitfalls. San José State University Writing Center. Retrieved from:
Hinojosa, A. (n.d.). Rephrasing 1- Cleft Sentences. Retrieved November 12, 2015, Retrieved from 5_1_rephrasing_cleft.htm
Kifissia. (2012). Cleft Sentences : It or What. Retrieved from es/cleft-sentences-transports/24959
Lets Learn English. “Cleft sentences.wmv”. Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 14 May Retrieved from:

37. Works cited
Noosa, T. “Learn English: Cleft sentences (Advanced - Proficiency)”. Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 5 Nov Retrieved from: _How&index=8&list=PLdWtBzHz8ruhqAdVuXHJoDkw2hR4e8tAp
Sevastopoulos, J. (2015). Cleft Clauses. Grammar-Quizzes. Retrieved from:
Vergon, S. (2011). Cleft sentences. SlideShare. Retrieved from: