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What it is:
What it is:
In the sentence expansion strategy, students are provided with a basic, nondescript "kernel sentence," and they are asked a series of prompts from which they then add details to the sentence.
How it works: After exposing students to content, the teacher starts by providing students with a "kernel sentence," which is a complete sentence that provides only basic information. For example: They won the game. is a kernel sentence that can be accompanied by a box score from a sports game.
Then, the teacher provides a series of prompts designed to add details to the kernel sentence. Students fill in the additional information in response to the prompts and finish the activity by writing an expanded sentence that includes all of the information.
Why to use it: By expanding develop an awareness of their own writing and begin to add specificity in their own writing.
When to use it: You can use this strategy to
review previous content
to check understanding of a reading, image, video, or other text
to help students edit their own writing
How to teach it:
Model an example that is easily accessible (picture, video, graph/chart, etc.) by completing the sentence expansion activity and explaining how you put together the expanded sentence.
***Tips
- Start kernel sentences that have a clear "who" or "what" and provide students with the prompts when, where, and why.
-If you want students to answer and who or what prompt, the kernel sentence should have a pronoun as a placeholder (see the example to the left)
This example comes from a social studies class reading about the constitutional convention.
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