Combining sentences might sound like an easy feat, but to many it is actually a lot trickier than it seems. That is why it is taught in classrooms early in the stages of grammar learning. In Bruce and Kristie Saddler’s article “Writing Better Sentences: Sentence-Combining Instruction in the Classroom”, the authors provide an admirable overview of the history of sentence combining and where it stands today. By engaging in exercises like combining kernel sentences into one, performing peer assessments, and understanding why mistakes were made, students can improve the quality of their writing and consequently become better storytellers.
Saddler’s insightful article got me thinking about Quill’s lessons on this topic. Have a look at this quote:
“Educators should (…) by sharing their thinking and suggesting why the new combination sounds better.”
Saddler was talking about teachers suggesting more correct answers — however, what if this was done by Quill instead? It is so important to understand why something you did was wrong in order to improve for the future. There could be an option at the end of the quiz where students request more info on the questions they missed. They would receive an explanation and two examples of correct sentences. Next, they could choose to “Star” it to their “Journal.” A journal would be a new feature that would allow students to refer back to a journal available on their student homepage, showcasing all of the grammar rules that they have to work on.
Another idea for improving and enriching Quill activities would be to have students form paragraphs with the sentences they have just worked on. Saddler wrote the following:
“First, an effort was made to increase the generalization of sentence combining skills to a story writing (…) combining phrases into sentences and the sentences into one paragraph.”
There could be a point in the student activity pack where instead of having random, unconnected sentences, students would receive 10 pairs of kernel sentences all about the same theme. Next, they would be prompted to create a paragraph with them. From the 10 complete sentences the students now have, they would choose 3–4 to combine into a paragraph to form a short narrative. With this exercise, students are not only refining their sentence combination skills but also improving their storytelling skills. This would instigate creativity and be fun for students to let their minds flow.
Moreover, Saddler makes another great point on the power of working in pairs that Quill could adapt into some activities.
“Furthermore, (…) peer instruction is an effective method of arranging instruction even with two less-skilled writers paired together.”
Many times, when you are a student completing an exercise, you might second guess yourself or have doubts about what the question is asking. Chances are, you are not the only one with doubts! When two people work together, they debate together and come up with stronger solutions. That way, one student can learn from the other and consequently both students improve their sentence combining skills. Students could play a two player game where they sit next to each other or work on a sentence in real-time from two different computers. There could be a passage with a couple of kernel sentences. Students highlight the sentences they think could be combined, and just by clicking on the sentence it would highlight itself. Students then drag them together and match to form complete combined sentences. Students could also choose to complete the activities individually and then have to assess their peer’s answers. This sort of collaboration is not only important for students’ critical thinking, but it is also fun to work with your peers.
