Mentoring Young Writers
Appendix 3J
Tools for Creating Sentence Variety
Coordinating Conjunctions - and, but, for, nor, or, so, and yet
- Terry Fox’s efforts to run across Canada soon gained national attention, and
people began to donate money to his cause.
- Terry Fox was in a lot of pain, but he continued to run a marathon each day to
raise money for cancer research.
Adverb Clauses
- Even though he was in a lot of pain, Terry Fox continued to run a marathon
everyday.
- The baby robins, when they began to hatch, were ravenously hungry.
- Butterflies clutch the undersides of leaves as other animals battle the rising wind.
Adverb clauses usually begin with subordinating conjunctions:
TIME
CAUSE + EFFECT
OPPOSITION
CONDITION
after
before
when
while
since
until
because
since
now that
as
in order that
so
although
though
even though
whereas
while
if
unless
only if
whether or not
even if
in case
as
Adverbs with ly
- Occasionally, tornadoes develop so rapidly that little advance warning is possible.
- His mother caressed him gently and crooned softly.
Appositives
- A cheetah, the fastest land animal on earth, can accelerate from zero to 100k/hr in
just three seconds.
- A prolific author, Helen Keller was well-traveled and outspoken in her beliefs.
- I picked up the kitten, a ball of fluff small enough to fit in my hand.
Participles and Participial Phrases – Present Tense
- Bursting from the tall grass, the cheetah pursues its prey.
- The dog burst from the bushes, charging at the bear.
- A butterfly, tickling the breeze with gentle wings, floats like a flower on the wind
Retrieved from companion CD Rom for Mentoring Young Writers by Blanche Lamont. Copyright 2016 by
Blanche Lamont. All rights reserved. Reproduction authorized only for classroom use.
Mentoring Young Writers
Participles and Participial Phrases – Past Tense
- Born in 1957, Terry Fox was raised in British Columbia.
- Exhausted, Daniel trudged home after a long day of hard work.
- Penguins, considered marine birds, live up to 80 percent of their lives in the
ocean.
Prepositional phrases
- With its ability to accelerate from zero to 100k/h in three seconds, the cheetah is
the fastest land animal on earth.
- Grandpa dropped his false teeth into a glass of prune juice and climbed into bed.
- But the wizard had already turned himself into a bird and fluttered away, out the
window, over the trees, and past the castle.
Prepositional phrases begin with words like these:
about
across
above
after
against
along
among
around
as
at
behind
below
beside
between
beyond
by
down
during
except
for
from
in
inside
into
like
near
next
of
off
on
out
outside
over
through
past
to
under
until
up
upon
with
without
Adjective Clauses
- Students who want to play tag should meet by the swings.
- A volcano that has stopped erupting forever is called extinct.
- Rick Hansen, whose courage and determination inspired us all, was inducted into
Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2007.
- I heard the announcement to gather at the speed-skating track for the last event of
the day, which was the Men’s 1000 meter race.
Multiple Verbs
- The wolf pups tugged at their mother’s tail and chewed on her ears.
- The young tiger has learned to prowl, to swim, and to hunt.
- Stanley dropped his backpack, flopped down on the couch, and sighed unhappily.
Paired Adjectives
- Sad and lonely, the young dragon lived a solitary existence.
- Deep in the woods the lynx crouched, still and silent.
- The child, alone and afraid, wandered through the woods.
Retrieved from companion CD Rom for Mentoring Young Writers by Blanche Lamont. Copyright 2016 by
Blanche Lamont. All rights reserved. Reproduction authorized only for classroom use.