Power Pencils Learning FUN Activity

Discover the power of conjunctions! Students hear firsthand how conjunctions work in sentences.

Supplies

• Bold Strokes Pencils - Classic Accents® Variety Pack  T10662
• Bold Strokes Pencils - Mini Accents Variety Pack  T10721
• Markers and two small containers

Directions

• Write conjunctions (or, nor, for, and, so, but, yet) on the small pencil accents; it’s ok to repeat some. Place in a container.
• Hand each student two large pencil accents and a marker.

Activity

• Students write one simple sentence on each pencil about a topic, like summer vacation or a favorite holiday.
• Hold the container of conjunctions in front of the class. Explain that what’s in the cup has the power to transform their sentence pairs into one complex or silly sentence.
• Excited students each choose from the conjunction container and place the pencil between their sentences.
• Now, a student reads his or her pencils as one complete sentence.
• How did the sentence sound? Did the conjunction work or did it make a very silly sentence? Why?
• Continue to read sentences around the circle and listen to the class’ complex sentences.
• When a sentence pair and conjunction sound funny together, challenge students to name a conjunction that would work better and try again.

The room fills with laughter and amazement at the power one small word has in writing!

BONUS: Divide the class into partners. Each student writes a few of the sentences from accents without using the conjunctions. Then, they rewrite them as complex sentences using conjunctions with correct punctuation and capitalization. Partners compare the writing. Can everyone hear the difference? Wow! What a great way to remind students to elevate their writing with this powerful part of speech!

©TREND enterprises, Inc.  1083 A18

Download

Download template here!