Grammaropolis
The Sentence Factory

Sentence Structures

An independent clause is a complete sentence on its own. Join two of them, and you change the whole structure.

Start the lesson →

Preview how it deepens, Grades 3 through 8.

clause + joiner + clause See it · tap a half
Try it on the line

Build one yourself.

Pick one chip at each station and snap them together. The Mayor inspects the finished sentence, a quick taste of how the parts combine.

1 · first complete thought

2 · Connie's joiner

3 · second complete thought

4 · The Mayor inspects
Join two complete thoughts with a joiner.
✓ Compound sentence · approved
Keep going in the Arcade · free, plays daily
Sentence Surgeon · revising sentences
Sentence Surgeon

A change order drops: make it plural, give it an adverb, swap in a pronoun. Re-tool the sentence and roll it back onto the line.

Play Sentence Surgeon →
Garbage Sentences · syntax vs. meaning
Garbage Sentences

Slang builds a sentence that follows every rule of grammar and still means nonsense. Catch which rule he really broke, and let the Mayor judge.

Play Garbage Sentences →
Watch for

Join two complete thoughts the right way.

Comma splice

A comma alone is too weak to hold two complete thoughts together. This is a comma splice.

Compound

Add a joining word after the comma and the two thoughts connect as equals.

The crew on this station

The characters host. The sentence is the star.

Connie portrait
Connie
works the line
The Mayor portrait
The Mayor
inspects the sentence
What you'll learn

The same concept, deeper every grade.

Sentence Structures runs the length of the Factory, Grades 3 through 8. The lesson meets the standard at each grade, across all four frameworks.

Grade 3 An independent clause is a complete sentence on its own. Join two of them, and you change the whole structure. CCSS L.3.1.I
Grade 4 An independent clause is a complete sentence on its own. Join two of them, and you change the whole structure. CCSS L.4.1
Grade 5 An independent clause is a complete sentence on its own. Join two of them, and you change the whole structure. CCSS L.5.1
Grade 6 Every sentence is one or more clauses, joined a particular way. The joiner you choose names the structure. CCSS L.6.3.A
Grade 7 Every sentence is one or more clauses, joined a particular way. The joiner you choose names the structure. CCSS L.7.1.B
Grade 8 Every sentence is one or more clauses, joined a particular way. The joiner you choose names the structure. CCSS L.8.1