Activities to Teach Students to Combine Sentences Using Relative Clauses
Combining sentences using relative clauses is an important skill for students to learn in their writing. Relative clauses help to shorten sentences, make writing more concise and clear, and provide additional details or information about the subject of the sentence.
There are several activities that teachers can use to help their students master the use of relative clauses.
1. Relative Clauses Scavenger Hunt
This activity will help students identify relative clauses in sentences. First, provide students with a sentence and ask them to identify the subject, verb, and object of that sentence. Then, ask them to find the relative clause and identify the object of that clause. This will help them understand how relative clauses provide additional information about the subject of the sentence.
2. Sentence Combining Game
This game allows students to practice combining sentences using relative clauses. Provide students with two or three short sentences and ask them to combine them into one sentence using a relative clause. For example, “The dog barked. It was chasing a squirrel. The squirrel ran up a tree.” can be combined as “The dog, which was barking, was chasing a squirrel that ran up a tree.”
3. Relative Clauses Fill-In-The-Blank Exercise
This exercise will help students practice writing sentences using relative clauses. Provide students with a sentence that is missing a relative clause, and ask them to complete the sentence using their own words. For example, “The boy who _____ the ball.” Students can fill in the blank with the action that the boy did, such as “caught”, “threw”, or “kicked”.
4. Relative Clauses Writing Activity
Give students a series of pictures that tell a story. Ask the students to write a paragraph about each picture, using at least one relative clause in each paragraph. As an extension, have students swap paragraphs and find ways to incorporate more relative clauses into each other’s writing.
5. Identify the Subject Of The Relative Clause
Provide students with sentences containing relative clauses and ask them to identify the subject of the relative clause. This exercise will help students understand how to use relative clauses to provide additional information about the subject of the sentence.
In conclusion, combining sentences using relative clauses is an important skill for students to master in their writing. Utilizing various activities such as a scavenger hunt, sentence combining game, fill-in-the-blank exercise, writing activity, and identifying the subject of the relative clause, can help students understand the mechanics of using relative clauses in sentences. These activities will not only make writing more concise and clear but will also help the students to hone their writing skills.