Programs and Areas
First Year Writing Program
Teaching Resources: Style
Tried & True Home
|
Transitions | Transition Derby | Commonly Used Transitions |
Balderdash | Sentence Structure Activity | Slang, Cliches, and Informal Language |
Another Informal Language Activity | Style Tightening Your Writing | Tailor It to the Class Needs |
All Purpose Writing Activity | Throat Clearing Phrases | Cutting the Fat | Word Choice
Sentence Structure Activity
Why this may be useful in your class: If your students start all of their sentences in the same way (i.e., “There are…”; “It seems…”), this can be a useful way to force students out of their normal sentence patterns.
Time: 15 mins.
What you need: Quite a bit of chalkboard space and chalk.
What to do:
- Write two sentences on the board in large print – if you have more than one board, write a different sentence on each. Choose fairly simple sentences that have little detail. Two that have always worked for me are: “I will never forget you” and “There are two kids over by the fence.”
- Ask students to spend about five to ten minutes writing five new sentences for each original sentence (for a total of ten). Their new sentences can re-arrange word order or add detail, but the sentence must retain the meaning of the original.
- Ask students to choose their two best sentences when they are finished. As soon as they have chosen, ask them to write their two best on the board (you may want them to write their new sentences on the same board as the corresponding original).
- After all the sentences are up, have your class look for matches – cross of duplicates that you find. There are usually hardly any duplicates for this, so the point is to show your students how many ways there are to say one thing.
Have an idea for Tried and True? Send it to fywp@osu.edu!
Return to Top