Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Classy Clauses!

Mrs. Yollis' students have learned that one clever way to add class to your writing is to use a 
variety of sentence types!

One type that we have learned to write is a sentence that starts with a dependent clause.

Dependent clauses start with special words:
After, Before, Since, While, When, If, During.

 A dependent clause ends with a comma and cannot stand alone as a sentence. It must be followed by an independent clause, which is a sentence that can stand alone!


Here are some excellent examples of sentences with dependent clauses, tweeted out this week by students in our class:



If you would like to submit your spelling here, please type your quality sentences in the comment section.
  
(Ooh La! La! Nice dependent clause followed by an independent clause!)

18 comments:

  1. Hi Mrs. Yollis' class,

    When I was reading your post, I thought about what fabulous writing lessons you are learning. Clauses do spice up sentence structure and add variety. What was the most difficult part to learn about clauses?

    Kind regards,
    Mrs. Watanabe

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    I enjoyed reading all the classy clauses, and I am glad that my sentence got featured!

    The following are my two sentences using stunned and nuisance:

    While talking to me on the phone, my friend said she was stunned to find out that she got a bad score on her test.

    After Ramona spent some time with Willa Jean, she started to think that Willa Jean was a nuisance.

    Your student,
    Hannah

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    Here are my two sentences;

    Stunned; After school, my mother stunned me by saying "A special person is invited to dinner at our house on Friday night".


    Nuisance; It is while I was doing homework, the vertical blinds were a nuisance to me because of their fluttering noise!

    Have a good evening!

    Your intelligent student,

    Amitai

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mrs. Yollis,
    My first classy clause:
    When I opened my present on Christmas Day, I was stunned to find the toy I had wanted all my life.
    From Ben

    ReplyDelete
  5. Mrs. Yollis,
    Second Classy Clause:
    During my reading time, I found my brother to be a loud nuisance while he was playing with his toys.
    From,
    Ben

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    Here are my two sentences using stunned and nuisance.

    1. While I was resting at home, I was stunned to learn that students spray painted the high school walls.

    2. During my visit to the Santa Monica Pier, bees kept circling around me, creating a nuisance.


    Your Student,
    Alexa:)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    Here is my classy clause:
    Before I got out of my room, my brother pulled me outside and I was stunned that our jungle gym was fixed.

    Sorry, my dad needs to use the computer. Classy clauses are so much fun I could go all day!

    Warmly,
    Ileanna

    ReplyDelete
  8. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    Here are my two classy clauses with stunned and nuisance. The first sentence is with stunned in it.
    I went for a walk in the park, and I was stunned when I saw a dog and fox were fighting, while two wolves were hunting.
    Here is the second sentence with nuisance in it.
    Rabbits are a nuisance because they eat grass after they eat the flowers.

    From,
    Tucker

    ReplyDelete
  9. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    I have been enjoying writing the two sentences and tweeting them.

    My two sentences are:

    During my birthday, I was stunned to get a real camera.

    Before school started, my next door neighbor's dog started barking and that was a nuisance.

    From,
    Miriam

    ReplyDelete
  10. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    Here are my two classy clauses with stunned and nuisance.

    While I was at the park,I was stunned when I saw a dog and fox fighting and two wolves hunting.


    After the rabbits eat the grass, they eat the flowers which makes them a nuisance

    From,
    Tucker

    ReplyDelete
  11. Dear Mrs Yollis,

    Wonderful post and how correct with Mrs Watanabe commment. It is so true clauses sure do add another direction to a sentence.

    Will have to make it a point of using clauses in my writing.

    From pal,
    AA.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    Here are my classy clause sentences using calamity and cross:

    During the school day, Mrs. Yollis' class periodically turned on the T.V. to watch the calamity that had taken place in Japan.

    After Jill and I had a conversation about our disagreement, I was surprised to hear the she was still cross with me.

    Here is the extra credit sentence using echoed:

    While we were talking about the weather, my mom echoed my sentiments when I said that California usually has beautiful weather.

    Your student,
    Hannah

    ReplyDelete
  13. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    Here is my clause:

    When I went on your blog, I was stunned by how many posts you have! Outstanding job on the blogging everyone!

    I am looking forward to seeing who wins the family blogging month for both Mrs. Yollis' and Mrs. Ranney's classes.

    Please come on to our blog and comment soon.

    All the best,
    Aidan [in Mrs. Ranney's class]

    ReplyDelete
  14. Dear Mrs Yollis,

    Here are 2 classy clauses:

    While playing a game of tennis, I was cross at my sister for missing the ball so we lost the point.

    While watching television, I saw the calamaty in Alabama when the tornado landed.

    From,
    Sarah (Miriam's sister)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    Here are my two classy clauses:

    After school, my mother showed me on the computer the calamaty that happened in Alabama when the tornado hit the town.

    After walking two miles to the ice cream store, I was cross when I found out it was closed.

    Here is my extra sentence:

    While hiking late in the mountains, my father echoed my concerns of being eaten by coyotes.

    From,
    Miriam

    ReplyDelete
  16. Dear Mrs. Yollis,


    I have three sentences for the Classy Clause post:


    Calamity: On March 11, 2011, Japan had a very big calamity in form of a tsunami.



    Cross: When I got home, I was crossed to find out that my enormous Lego set that I had spent hours making was broken.


    Echoed: As we were picking a place to eat, Ethan echoed me “how about Sushi?”

    From your intelligent student,
    Amitai

    P. S. While you were reading my comment, could you guess what grade level the first classy clause was?

    ReplyDelete
  17. Mrs. Yollis and Class,

    I love coming to your blog and seeing the fabulous things you have learned so far. I also like to see the different ways you bring in technology. Do you think using twitter has been a good learning tool? What have you liked about it and what have you not liked about it? Do you all use a certain twitter site?

    Happy Blogging,

    Mrs. Martinez

    ReplyDelete
  18. @ Mrs. Martinez,

    Thanks for your kind words of support! :-)

    This is the first year I've used Twitter with my class, but I will continue to use it next year.

    We use Twitter in many ways. First, we tweet about new blog posts. We always use the hashtags #comments4kids #elemchat and #edchat. Another way we use Twitter is when we are showcasing quality sentences. Any student who creates a *masterpiece* sentence...gets to type it in our Twitter account and tweet it out!

    You can follow our class:

    @mrsyollis

    No negatives...so far!


    Happy Blogging!

    Mrs. Y♥llis

    ReplyDelete

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