Avoiding Fragments and Run-Ons

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BEGIN
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• Writing clear and concise sentences takes time
  and effort. Anyone can write a confusing, unclear
  sentence!
• Both sentence fragments and run-on sentences
  confuse the reader.
• By learning to identify and correct these
  problems, your writing can improve quickly and
  easily!

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FRAGMENTS
Threw the baseball. (Who threw the baseball?)

• Mark and his friends. (What about them?)

Around the corner. (Who is? What happened?)
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• A fragment is a group of words
• that does not express a complete
• thought. Something important is
• missing, and you are left wondering
• What is this about? or What happened?

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• A fragment may be missing a SUBJECT
• Threw the baseball. (Who threw the baseball?)

A fragment may be missing a VERB Mark and his
friends. (What about them?)
A fragment may be missing BOTH Around the
corner. (Who was? What happened?)
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• You can correct a fragment by adding the missing
  part of speech.
• Add a subject Rob threw the baseball.
• Add a verb Mark and his friends laughed.
• Add both A dog ran around the corner.

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• Lets practice!
• Is this a sentence or a fragment?
• Delivered newspapers in the rain.

Sentence
Fragment
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• Sorry!
• It is a fragment. It is missing a subject.
• You could correct it by adding a subject
• Tyler delivered newspapers in the rain.

Try another one!
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• YES!
• It is a fragment. It is missing a subject.
• You could correct it by adding a subject
• Tyler delivered newspapers in the rain.

Try another one!
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• Lets practice more!
• Is this a sentence or a fragment?
• Kevin and his dog.

Sentence
Fragment
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Sorry! It is a fragment. It is missing a
verb. You could correct it by adding a
verb Kevin and his dog went for a walk.
Try another one!
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• YES!
• It is a fragment. It is missing a verb.
• You could correct it by adding a verb
• Kevin and his dog went for a walk.

Try another one!
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Lets practice more! Is this a sentence or a
fragment? On Monday, we went outside for recess.
Sentence
Fragment
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Sorry! It is a sentence. It has both a subject
and a verb. On Monday, we went outside for
recess.
subject verb
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Yes! It is a sentence. It has both a subject
and a verb. On Monday, we went outside for
recess.
subject verb
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A run-on is two thoughts put together in the
same sentence. The two ideas may or may not be
related. A run-on can be fixed by adding proper
punctuation to separate the two complete thoughts.
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Here are three examples of run-ons
Tyler delivered newspapers in the rain he got
very wet.
Kevin and his dog went for a walk it was a
beautiful day.
On Monday we went outside for recess it was fun.
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• There are three ways to correct a run-on
• Add a period and a capital letter.
• Add a semicolon.
• Add a comma and a conjunction.

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Lets correct a sentence using a period and a
capital letter!
Tyler delivered newspapers in the rain he got
very wet. WRONG! RUN-ON!
Tyler delivered newspapers in the rain. He got
very wet. RIGHT! SENTENCES!
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Lets correct a sentence using a semicolon!
Kevin and his dog went for a walk it was a
beautiful day. WRONG! RUN-ON!
Kevin and his dog went for a walk it was a
beautiful day. RIGHT! SENTENCES!
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Lets correct a sentence using a comma and a
conjunction!
On Monday we went outside for recess it was fun.
WRONG! RUN-ON!
On Monday we went outside for recess, and it was
fun. RIGHT! SENTENCES!
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Lets practice! Is this a sentence or a
run-on? The kids had a snack they ate too much.
Sentence
Run-On
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Sorry! It is a run-on. It has two separate
thoughts with no punctuation separating
them. Lets correct it with a period and capital
letter The kids had a snack they ate too
much. The kids had a snack. They ate too much.
Try another one!
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Yes! It is a run-on! It has two separate
thoughts with no punctuation separating
them. Lets correct it with a period and capital
letter The kids had a snack they ate too
much. The kids had a snack. They ate too much.
Try another one!
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Lets practice more! Is this a sentence or a
run-on? The couple danced they fell in love.
Sentence
Run-On
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Sorry! It is a run-on. It has two separate
thoughts with no punctuation separating
them. Lets correct it with a comma and
conjunction The couple danced they fell in
love. The couple danced, and they fell in love.
Try another one!
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Yes! It is a run-on! It has two separate
thoughts with no punctuation separating
them. Lets correct it with a comma and
conjunction The couple danced they fell in
love. The couple danced, and they fell in love.
Try another one!
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Lets practice more! Is this a sentence or a
run-on? The pizza was hot it smelled so good.
Sentence
Run-On
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Sorry! It is a run-on. It has two separate
thoughts with no punctuation separating
them. Lets correct it with a semicolon The
pizza was hot it smelled so good. The pizza was
hot it smelled so good.
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Yes! It is a run-on! It has two separate
thoughts with no punctuation separating
them. Lets correct it with a semicolon The
pizza was hot it smelled so good. The pizza was
hot it smelled so good.
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Now that youve mastered identifying fragments
and run-ons, lets practice correcting them! Here
is a quick reminder
Fragments need either a subject, a verb, or both.
Run-ons need a period and capital letter, a
semicolon, or a comma and conjunction.
Lets practice!
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Which answer could you add to correct this
fragment? Quickly ducked behind the door.
and waited. (at end)
with the money. (at end)
Thomas (at beginning)
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Sorry! This fragment needs a subject. Quickly
ducked behind the door. (Who did?)
Go back and try again!
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Right! This fragment needs a subject! Quickly
ducked behind the door. (Who did?) Thomas
did!
Lets try another one!
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Which answer could you add to correct this
fragment? Susan and Connie quietly.
waited for lunch. (at end)
and quickly. (at end)
On Monday, (at beginning)
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Sorry! This fragment needs a verb. Susan and
Connie quietly. (Did what?)
Go back and try again!
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Right! This fragment needs a verb! Susan and
Connie quietly. (Did what?) Waited for
lunch!
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Lets fix some run-ons now! First, youll be
given a run-on. Then youll see three choices.
Only one choice is a correct way to fix the
run-on.
Lets get started!
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The sunset was beautiful we sat and watched.
The sunset was beautiful we sat, and watched it.
The sunset was beautiful. We sat and watched it.
The sunset was beautiful, we sat and watched it.
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Sorry! This run-on needs to be separated
BETWEEN the two complete thoughts. Where does
one thought end and another begin? The sunset
was beautiful we sat and watched.
Go back and try again!
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Right! This run-on needs to be separated
BETWEEN the two complete thoughts. The sunset
was beautiful we sat and watched it.
?---one complete thought-----? ?--one complete
thought--?
The sunset was beautiful. We sat and watched it.
Lets try another one!
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• Sorry!
• A comma alone cannot fix a run-on.
• TO FIX A RUN-ON
• A comma and conjunction
• A semicolon
• A period and a capital letter

Go back and try again!
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The students took a test it was very hard.
The students took a test, but it was very hard.
The students took a test but it was very hard.
The students took a test, it was very hard.
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Right! This run-on needs to be separated with a
comma AND a conjunction. The students took a
test, but it was very hard.
Lets try another one!
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• Sorry!
• A conjunction alone cannot fix a run-on.
• TO FIX A RUN-ON
• A comma and conjunction
• A semicolon
• A period and a capital letter

Go back and try again!
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• Sorry!
• A comma alone cannot fix a run-on.
• TO FIX A RUN-ON
• A comma and conjunction
• A semicolon
• A period and a capital letter

Go back and try again!
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The boys ordered a pizza they didnt want olives
on it.
The boys ordered a pizza but they didnt want
olives on it.
The boys ordered a large pizza they didnt want
olives on it.
The boys ordered a pizza they didnt want olives
on it.
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• Sorry!
• A run-on needs to be separated between
• the two complete thoughts with punctuation.
• TO FIX A RUN-ON
• A comma and conjunction
• A semicolon
• A period and a capital letter

Go back and try again!
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• Sorry!
• A run-on needs to be separated between
• the two complete thoughts with punctuation.
• TO FIX A RUN-ON
• A comma and conjunction
• A semicolon
• A period and a capital letter

Go back and try again!
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Right! A run-on can be corrected with a
semicolon. The boys ordered a pizza they
didnt want olives on it.
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Youve done a great job identifying and
correcting fragments and run-ons! But the real
test of your knowledge is in your own writing.
You now have to remember what youve learned and
apply it to your own writing. A great place to do
this is in the editing stage of the writing
process. When you check your work, keep an eye
out for fragments and run-ons and
AVOID THEM!!!
FragmentsRun-Ons
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I (state your name) promise to look for fragments
and run-ons in my own writing, and correct them
when I find them.
I WILL AVOID FRAGMENTS AND RUN-ONS!