Teacher's Guide to Effective Sentence Writing

This practical book provides explicit directions for teaching sentence-level skills to students who have difficulties in this area. The author explains the key role of sentence combining in the writing process and presents effective techniques for instruction and assessment. Numerous sample lessons, practice activities, planning tips, and grammatical pointers make it easy for teachers to incorporate sentence combining and construction into the writing curriculum at all grade levels (2–12). Accessible and engaging, the book helps teachers and students experiment with different ways to arrange thoughts and produce meaningful written work, it can be used by classroom teachers, special educators, and literacy specialists in grades 2–12, speech–language pathologists and teacher educators.

Key Points

• Unique: an in-depth guide to a crucial skill for struggling writers in grades 2–12.
• Abundant practical features include sample lesson plans, exercises, and quizzes.
• From an author who knows what works: Saddler is a researcher, former K–12 special educator, and frequent conference presenter.
• A key resource for classroom teachers and for special educators focusing on writing.
• The reproducible materials can be downloaded and printed in PDF format.

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Table of Contents

Part I. Background

• 1. Writing Basics
• 2. The Importance of the Sentence
• 3. What Is Sentence Combining?

Part II. Teaching and Assessment

• 4. The Cognitive Challenge of Combining Sentences
• 5. Types of Sentence-Combining Exercises
• 6. Teaching Sentences
• 7. Teaching Sentence Combining
• 8. Student Grouping
• 9. Assessment

Part III. Sample Unit of Instruction, Practice Activities, and Exercises

• 10. Sample Unit of Instruction
• 11. Practice Activities
• 12. Common Grammatical Terms and Exercise Sequence
• 13. Word, Phrase, and Clause-Length Exercises
• 14. Exercises with Multiple Grammatical Elements
• 15. Paragraph-Length Exercises

References

Index

"Saddler provides an invaluable, evidence-based approach to building students' writing skills through effective sentence combining. He uses a well-presented theoretical lens to frame clear examples of typical sentence-writing difficulties and potential solutions. Practical lessons and materials are supplied for teaching a diverse range of learners. Accessible and engaging, this book is a 'must' for elementary, middle, and high school writing teachers, as well as those preparing to be teachers."
- Linda H. Mason, PhD, Department of Educational Psychology, Counseling, and Special Education, The Pennsylvania State University

"Saddler presents a comprehensive framework for teaching students not only how sentences work, but also how to make sentences work for them. Synthesizing years of research, he offers myriad instructional methods that can be used in classroom, small-group, or individual tutorial settings to foster mindful discussion about language structure and meaning. This is an outstanding resource for any educator who wants students to appreciate the power of a well-written sentence."
- Bonnie D. Singer, PhD, Founder and CEO, Architects for Learning, LLC, Needham Heights, Massachusetts

"True to its promise, this book shows all teachers—writing, special education, and general education teachers—how to help learners write effective sentences with attention to both style and substance. The research-based activities and exercises should prove invaluable. This is a book that teachers will want to read again and again, as they see it helping their students become better and better writers."
- Howard Margolis, EdD, Professor Emeritus of Reading Disabilities and Special Education, City University of New York

"I had the honor of working with Dr. Saddler in my classroom; his knowledge of sentence construction and combining is second to none. He taught me many valuable lessons that I still use in my classroom today, and that other teachers can now have access to in this compelling book."
- Amy Ogburn, MA, fourth-grade teacher, Forest Park Elementary School, Albany, New York