Grammar: Conjunctions

Let's pretend sentences are trains. The locomotive

is the first car pulling the other cars.

There is also the back car called the caboose.

The locomotive and caboose cannot drive

together without a boxcar in between them.

It is the same with grammar!

Conjunctions act as boxcars. They work to join words, phrases, or sentences together.

Today, we will talk about coordinating conjunctions.

Like in the train example, coordinating conjunctions connect two or more ideas.

There are seven coordinating conjunctions altogether.

FANBOYS

This is an acronym you can use to remember all seven.

FANBOYS

for

FANBOYS

for

and

FANBOYS

for

and

nor

FANBOYS

for

and

but

nor

FANBOYS

for

or

and

but

nor

yet

FANBOYS

for

or

and

but

nor

so

yet

FANBOYS

for

or

and

but

nor

so

yet

FANBOYS

for

or

and

but

nor

Let's see conjunctions in action! See if you can find them in

these sentences.

1. You will need to get milk at the store, for we do not have any left.

2. I do not know if I want the cake or the ice cream.

3. Neither Paul nor Shayna came to the party last weekend.

Let's see conjunctions in action! See if you can find them in

these sentences.

1. You will need to get milk at the store, for we do not have any left.

2. I do not know if I want the cake or the ice cream.

3. Neither Paul nor Shayna came to the party last weekend.

Next, try to create your

own sentence with the

correct conjunction.

1. Jessica ________ Megan always hang out every afternoon.

2. He is quiet, ________ he always has an opinion.

3. I was feeling hungry, ________ I made myself a sandwich.

Next, try to create your

own sentence with the

correct conjunction.

1. Jessica ___and_____ Megan always hang out every afternoon.

2. He is quiet, ____yet____ he always has an opinion.

3. I was feeling hungry, ___so_____ I made myself a sandwich.

Modeling:

To apply what we learned, we will all walk through writing a paragraph together with the correct use of conjunctions.

Here is the topic:

What is the best gift

you ever received?

What made it special?

Step 1: Prewriting

my parents gave it to me

We can begin by sharing ideas and brainstorming. Raise your hand to share what the best gift you received was. This is a brainstorming web that helps to plan.

my favorite

color

Record player

I love music

it was a surprise

Step 2: Drafting

Now, we can start writing our paragraph. Get your ideas down on paper. Don't worry about errors right now.

The best gift I ever received was on my 17th birthday. It was a normal day. My parents made it great. I was not expecting a record player. When I received it, I was shocked. It was my favorite color and I loved music. There have been many birthdays since then. That remains the best gift.

The best gift I ever received was on my 17th birthday. It was a normal day. My parants made it great. I was not expecting a record player. When I received it, I was shoked. It was my favorite color and I loved music. There have been many birthdays since then. That remains the best gift.

Step 3: Revising & Editing

We can take our draft and what we learned about conjunctions, and edit our paragraph to make it flow better.

The best gift I ever received was on my 17th birthday. It was a normal day. My parents made it great. I was not expecting a record player. When I received it, I was shocked. It was my favorite color and I loved music. There have been many birthdays since then. That remains the best gift.

The best gift I ever received was on my 17th birthday. It was a normal day, yet my parents made it fantastic. I was not expecting a record player so when I received it, I was shocked. It was my favorite color, and I adored music. There have been many birthdays since then, but that remains the best gift I have received.

We can take our changes made in the editing and revising stage and apply them to the new paragraph.

Step 4: Rewriting

The best gift I ever received was on my 17th birthday. It was a normal day. My parents made it great. I was not expecting a record player. When I received it, I was shocked. It was my favorite color and I loved music. There have been many birthdays since then. That remains the best gift.

The best gift I ever received was on my 17th birthday. It was a normal day, yet my parents made it fantastic. I was not expecting a record player so when I received it, I was shocked. It was my favorite color, and I adored music. There have been many birthdays since then, but that remains the best gift I have received.

Now, we are ready to share our work with others. Let's read our final paragraph outloud together.

Step 5: Publishing

The best gift I ever received was on my 17th birthday. It was a normal day. My parents made it great. I was not expecting a record player. When I received it, I was shocked. It was my favorite color and I loved music. There have been many birthdays since then. That remains the best gift.

The best gift I ever received was on my 17th birthday. It was a normal day, yet my parents made it fantastic. I was not expecting a record player so when I received it, I was shocked. It was my favorite color, and I adored music. There have been many birthdays since then, but that remains the best gift I have received.

References:

The Writing Process: Steps to Writing Success. (n.d.). Retrieved October 02, 2020, from https:// www.time4writing.com/writing-resources/writing-process/

Miller, A. (2015). Chapter 1.8. In The Best Grammar Workbook Ever!: Grammar, Punctuation and Word Usage for Ages 10 to 110. Petaluma, CA: Bigwords101.