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TEACHING
SENTENCE STRUCTURES AS FAMILY UNITS

 

Following is a simple method of explaining the four sentence structures, simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex.

Before we get to the method, the students must know two things.  

First, the students need a very basic introduction of independent and dependent clauses.  It will not make much sense to them at this point, but it will become clearer when you show them the easier methods. 

Independent Clause
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An independent clause is a part of a sentence that can stand alone and make sense by itself.

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Every independent clause contains a subject and a verb. 
Dependent Clause
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A dependent clause is a group of words that has a subject and a verb, but cannot stand alone or make sense by itself.

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A dependent clause needs to be attached to independent clause in order to make sense.

Second, teach the students to use the following abbreviations to identify the sentence structures and clauses.  

S Simple sentence
CD Compound sentence
CX Complex sentence
CD-CX Compound-Complex sentence
IC Independent Clause
DC Dependent Clause

Teaching Sentence Structures as Family Units

Instruct the students to think of an independent clause as a self-supporting adult, a dependent clause as a child who is dependent on a parent, and a sentence as a family made of clauses.   Then show the students the following chart:

Simple Sentence Compound Sentence Complex Sentence Compound-Complex Sentence
1 IC 2 IC 1 IC and
 1 or more DC		 2 IC and 
1 or more DC
The family is only a single  adult.  The family is a married couple. The family is a single parent with one or more children. The family is a married couple with one or more children.

 

 

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