Curated OER
Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice
Use the historical account of Claudette Colvin to study civil rights and connect past injustices to modern issues. As learners read, they examine chapter titles, record quotes, and participate in discussion. Next, they research active...
Curated OER
Transition Words and Phrases: Road Signs for the Reader
Therefore! However! Furthermore! Explore the power of transition words and phrases. Signal your readers by suggesting the relationship between different thoughts or points. Help them demonstrate an understanding of word relationships.
Curated OER
The Missing Link
What is the missing link? Provide your class with this incomplete essay (it's missing transition words), and have writers place words from the transition word bank into the essay. Also, since only three of the five paragraphs are...
Curated OER
Telling Our Stories of Giving - Writing to Persuade
After identifying the parts of a persuasive piece of writing, young writers explore different prewriting activities for the persuasive essay. They have the option to write a news article, personal narrative, or persuasive essay to...
Curated OER
Making an Argument: Effective use of Transition Words
Work on using transition words in context by prompting elementary and middle schoolers to write their own persuasive essays using transition words. They explore new forms of transition words and examine how they are used in an editorial...
Sophia Learning
Sophia: Topic Sentences
This slideshow lesson focuses on topic sentences; it defines them, gives the characteristics of effective topic sentences, tells what they are NOT, discusses how to create them, and provides examples of effective topic sentences.
The Write Place
Literacy Education Online
Literacy Education Online (or LEO) is a great place to start if you need help with your writing. The homepage is organized around kinds of problems or questions you might have concerning your writing. Find your problem, click on the...
Online Writing Lab at Purdue University
Purdue University Owl: On Paragraphs
A comprehensive approach to writing coherent paragraphs and knowing how to transition between paragraphs.
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Sentence Structures, Rhetorical Devices, & Transitions
[Accessible by TX Educators. Free Registration/Login Required] The most effective expository and procedural texts contain rhetorical devices, transitional words and phrases, and a variety of sentence structures. Students will learn some...
The Tongue Untied
The Tongue Untied: Independent Clause
The Tongue Untied is a guide to grammar, punctuation, and style for journalists, and it has great information on the independent clause. The site provides numerous examples along with information on usage and tips for recognizing...
The Tongue Untied
The Tongue Untied: Dependent Clause
The Tongue Untied is a guide to grammar, punctuation, and style for journalists, and it has great information on the dependent clause. The site provides numerous examples along with information on usage and tips for recognizing dependent...
The Tongue Untied
The Tongue Untied: Clauses: The Basics
This page, from a site for University of Oregon journalism students, provides definitions of a clause, an independent clause, and a dependent clause as well as some brief instructions on their uses. The page seems to contain some...
City University of New York
Writesite: Clauses
Grammar and writing tutorial defines clause, independent clause, and dependent clause and provides exercises.
Capital Community College Foundation
Guide to Grammar and Writing: Definition of a Sentence
The Guide to Grammar and Writing defines many of the terms common to sentence development, such as the parts of speech, or provides links for those definitions. Discusses strategies for adding variety to sentence structures. Includes...
Capital Community College Foundation
Guide to Grammar and Writing: Diagramming Sentences Power Point
This handy PowerPoint presentation introduces the concept of sentence diagramming. It includes a number of examples.
Capital Community College Foundation
Guide to Grammar and Writing: Paragraph Development
This site from the Capital Community College helps with paragraph development and topic sentences.
Towson University
Towson University: Online Writing Support: Elements of Sentence Construction
This entry focuses on the Elements of Sentence Construction including subjects and predicates, phrases and clauses, compound sentence elements, and avoiding fragments, run-ons, and fused sentences.
Towson University
Towson University: Distinguishing Between Adverbials and Adjectivals Exercise 4
This is a 20-question, self-grading quiz/exercise on Distinguishing between Adverbials and Adjectivals.
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Teaching Students to Compose a Power Paragraph [Pdf]
This PDF lesson, POWER PARAGRAPH, focuses on analysis and will also help students to understand structure in a paragraph. The "power" concept teaches the students to organize their sentences according to different levels of importance....
ACT360 Media
Writing Den: Paragraphs
How do you write a paragraph? Use this site to learn more about the different parts of a paragraph.
Other
Writing More Persuasively
This site is very thorough, and offers two printable .pdf pages of some important points.
Other
Critical Reading: Subject and Predicate
Part of a larger site on "The Fundamentals of Critical Reading and Effective Writing," this section on the simple sentence focuses on the subject and the predicate. Definitions and examples are provided along with a section on...
Other
Legal Writing: Clauses Restrictive & Non Restrictive
This online writing guide for law students provides definitions and examples of restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses and instructions for punctuating clauses correctly. L.9-10.1b Phrases/Clauses
Other
Troubleshooting Sentences
This site presents in chart form a list of common sentence problems with possible solutions offered. A couple additional links are provided for further information.