Embedded clauses
SUBJECT: English – Embedded clauses
CONTEXT: teaching about punctuation through finding
about life in Lesotho.
An embedded clause adds extra information into the sentence, without which the
sentence would still make sense. Underline all the embedded clauses. The first one is
done for you.
Karabo
E.g. Karabo lives in Lesotho, near the small town of Morija, with her family.
1. Karabo’s mother, like many people in Lesotho, works in the city a long way away so Karabo lives with
her grandmother.
2. Sadly, her father died, from a disease, when she was much younger.
3. Karabo, who had walked about half a mile to collect water from the local spring, finally sets off for
school.
4. She goes to a school, on the hillside, where she learns about life in the UK.
5. Morija School, which is about a kilometre away, has about 70 children in each class.
Now add in your own embedded clause to the following sentences (you can turn the sentences around if
you like):
1. After morning lessons they are given soup with bread. It's pea soup today!
2. Occasionally they have to share each other’s food when there’s not enough.
3. At lunchtime they play games like skipping and football.
4. When she gets home she tends their Keyhole Garden, where they grow some of their food. She makes
sure there are no weeds.
5. They eat their dinner of home grown vegetables and have a get together with their neighbours for a
chat.
Comprehension
Subject: English - reading
Context: Finding out about people who live in other parts of the
World, so that we can learn to identify with and respect them.
Karabo (This text is also used for teaching about paragraphs.)
This is where Karabo and her family lives, near the small town of Morija in Lesotho. Karabo lives with her
grandma and two brothers. Her mother works far away in the city and her dad died of a disease. Before
school there are all sorts of jobs to do, like fetching water from the local well. She sweeps their front area
with a reed brush. Then it's time for school.
She goes to Morija School which is just below the hillside. The school has large classrooms as they have to
hold 70 pupils in each class. The headteacher and staff get on well with the pupils. They learn all sorts of
things in their simple classrooms with lessons on: Sesotho (language of Lesotho), English, Maths,
Agriculture, Social Studies, Health and Home Economics. This morning they are learning all about the history
of Lesotho and the 'Basotho' - the people of Lesotho. Karabo listens carefully!
After morning lessons they are given soup with bread. It's pea soup today! They share each other's food if
there's not enough. They play games like skipping and football at lunch-time. After more lessons, it's time to
go home.
On the way home, Karabo goes to the local shop to buy some oranges to go with her dinner. When she gets
home, she looks after their Keyhole Garden, where they grow some of their food. She uses a fork to break
the soil up and make sure that there are no weeds. They eat dinner (maize meal, soup and spinach) and get
together with their neighbours to chat. Then it's time for homework. Getting a good education is really
important to them and so they do their homework together before going to bed.
1. Why do you think that her mother doesn’t work at home, but has had to find work far away?
2. Why do you think that Karabo has to do those jobs before she goes to school?
3. What chores do you do during the week to help your parents?
4. How do you think Karabo would feel on the occasions she needed to share her lunch?
5. How would you feel if you were told by the teacher that you had to share your lunch?
6. What do you do when you get home from school?
7. How is that different from what Karabo does?
8. Look at the picture of Karabo with her neighbours. Name as many similarities and differences as you
can.
About Karabo
Subject: English - paragraphs
Context: teaching about paragraphs through
learning about life in Lesotho.
Paragraphs:
Paragraphs are needed every time you
start a new theme. Mark // where you
think there should be a new paragraph.
See Comprehension for questions
about this text.
Karabo
This is where Karabo and her family lives, near the small town of Morija in Lesotho. Karabo lives with her
grandma and two brothers. Her mother works far away in the city and her dad died of a disease. Before
school there are all sorts of jobs to do, like fetching water from the local well. She sweeps their front area
with a reed brush. Then it's time for school. She goes to Morija School which is just below the hillside. The
school has large classrooms as they have to hold 70 pupils in each class. The headteacher and staff get on
well with the pupils. They learn all sorts of things in their simple classrooms with lessons on: Sesotho
(language of Lesotho), English, Maths, Agriculture, Social Studies, Health and Home Economics. This
morning they are learning all about the history of Lesotho and the 'Basotho' - the people of Lesotho. Karabo
listens carefully! After morning lessons they are given soup with bread. It's pea soup today! They share each
other's food if there's not enough. They play games like skipping and football at lunch-time. After more
lessons, it's time to go home. On the way home, Karabo goes to the local shop to buy some oranges to go
with her dinner. When she gets home, she looks after their Keyhole Garden, where they grow some of their
food. She uses a fork to break the soil up and make sure that there are no weeds. They eat dinner (maize
meal, soup and spinach) and get together with their neighbours to chat. Then it's time for homework. Getting
a good education is really important to them and so they do their homework together before going to bed.
Punctuation Detective
SUBJECT: English – Punctuation
with a focus on: full stops, commas, embedded clauses and
semi colons.
CONTEXT: teaching about punctuation through finding out about sustainable farming
and keyhole gardens.
If you would like to find out more, look at the PowerPoint Keyhole-Gardens-Lesotho
Making a Keyhole garden
Growing food in some places is really difficult as the sun bakes the soil and the rain washes it away leaving
the farmer with nothing to eat growing special kinds of gardens keyhole gardens really helps as they hold in
the good soil recycle waste water and can be grown on rocks they are more like a giant compost heap
They use lots of materials starting with stones for the structure manure to feed the plants with nitrates straw
to keep in the moisture sticks to make the basket ash to give the plants potassium rusty tins to provide iron
and of course soil for the roots to grow in
Karabo and her family were taught by Send a Cow how to make a Keyhole garden so now she and her family
can grow vegetables to feed themselves and whatever is left over they can sell at market to buy other things
they need
Full stops: 4
Commas: 6
Embedded clause: 1
Semi Colons: 5
Exclamation Mark - 1
Making a Keyhole Garden – This is how we punctuated it.
Growing food in some places is really difficult as the sun bakes the soil and the rain washes it away, leaving
the farmer with nothing to eat. Growing special kinds of gardens, keyhole gardens, really helps as they hold
in the good soil, recycle waste water and can be grown on rocks. They are more like a giant compost heap.
They use lots of materials, starting with stones for the structure; manure to feed the plants with nitrates; straw
to keep in the moisture; sticks to make the basket; ash to give the plants potassium; rusty tins to provide iron
and of course, soil for the roots to grow in!
Karabo and her family were taught by Send a Cow how to make a Keyhole garden, so now she and her
family can grow vegetables to feed themselves and whatever is left over, they can sell at market to buy other
things they need.