Run-On Sentence Repair Fan

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Date:

✂ Prepare Your Sentence Fan

WALT: We Are Learning To identify and repair run-on sentences.

Success criteria: I can find complete ideas, choose suitable punctuation, read my sentence aloud, and explain my choice.

A run-on sentence joins two or more complete ideas without suitable punctuation or a connecting word. A comma by itself may not fix it.

Cut around the outside edge of each blade. Fold on the fold lines and join the blades with a paper fastener. Write clearly, talk before you write, and read each repair aloud.

Cut line: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fold line: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Support box: conjunction word bank: and, but, so, because, although, while

Helpful frames: “I can hear ______ complete ideas.” “I chose ______ because ______.”

Lesson 1 check: I can find where one complete idea ends and another begins.

Lesson 2 check: I can repair a run-on in more than one way and explain my punctuation choice.

🌀 Fan Blades 1–3: Find and Repair

Blade 1 — What is a run-on sentence?

1. Explain in your own words what makes a run-on sentence.

Blade 2 — Find the two complete ideas

2. Underline or copy the two complete ideas in this run-on sentence:

The taniwha crossed the river it vanished into the mist.

Complete idea 1:

Complete idea 2:

Blade 3 — Repair with full stops

3. Rewrite the run-on sentence as two clear sentences. Read your answer aloud.

Mia packed her bag she forgot her lunch.

🌀 Fan Blades 4–6: Choose, Compare and Reflect

Blade 4 — Repair with a conjunction

4. Join these ideas with one suitable conjunction: and, but, so, because, although or while.

The rain began the players stayed on the field.

Why did your conjunction fit?

Blade 5 — Repair with a semicolon

5. Join these closely related complete ideas with a semicolon (;).

The bell rang the students packed away their books.

Blade 6 — My own example and reflection

6. Write your own run-on sentence about school, sport, weather or a pūrākau character.

7. Repair it in two different ways. Which repair is clearer or more interesting? Explain why.

Challenge: Compare a full stop, a conjunction and a semicolon. How does each repair change the pace or relationship between the ideas?

Differentiation: Rehearse sentences aloud with a partner. Use colour to mark each complete idea, draw the meaning, use the word bank, or dictate your answer. Try two complete ideas first before using a semicolon.

Extension: Find a run-on in your own writing. Repair it three ways and explain which version best suits your audience. You may also create a deliberate run-on to show a character speaking breathlessly, then explain why it is effective.

Teacher answer and support note

Suggested answers: 2. “The taniwha crossed the river.” “It vanished into the mist.” 3. “Mia packed her bag. She forgot her lunch.” 4. “The rain began, but the players stayed on the field.” Other conjunctions may be suitable if the meaning is clear. 5. “The bell rang; the students packed away their books.”

Accept other accurate repairs. Check that students identify two complete ideas, avoid a comma splice, read the sentence aloud, and explain how punctuation or a conjunction improves clarity. These activities support NZ Te Mātaiaho English Years 4–6 sentence structures, grammar and punctuation: NZ-TMA-ENGLISH-Y0-6-writing-143-DOC122, NZ-TMA-ENGLISH-Y0-6-writing-142-DOC122, NZ-TMA-ENGLISH-Y0-6-writing-160-DOC122 and NZ-TMA-ENGLISH-Y0-6-writing-153-DOC122.