Writing Helps

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Sentence Structures: Helping Students Discuss, Read and Write About Texts

Overview:

Students at all levels struggle to find language that expresses their ideas and helps them achieve their rhetorical purpose. Sentence structures offer a useful means of getting students up and running with academic language through either sentence starters or sentence frames. Both approaches are useful for both writing about and discussing different types of texts.

Sentence Starters Sentence Frames

Making Predictions

• It is likely that...

• If x happens, then...

• Because x did y, then it is expected z will..

Making Connections

• X is just like...

• X is similar to y because...

• X is important to y because...

Making Inferences

• X means...since x is...

• Early on the author says...which suggests x is...

• X causes y as a result of...which shows...

Summarizing

• The main idea is...

• The author argues that...

• In _______, (author’s name) implies...

Evaluating

• The author’s point is/is not valid because...

• The author does/does not do a good job of...

• The most important aspect/event/idea is...

Analyzing the Text

• The author uses _______ to show/achieve...

• The author assumes ________ which is/is not true...

• The use of _________ strengthens/weakens the author’s argument by

Clarifying

• What the author is saying is...

• Given that x happened, the author is trying to show...

• X is not _______ but is, instead, ________ since....

Synthesizing

• These elements/details, when considered together, suggest...

• Initial impressions suggested x, but after learning_____ it is now clear that...

• It is not a question of x but rather of y because....

Summarizing

• Readers often assume that....

• While many suggest x, others say y....

• (Author’s name) agrees/disagrees with x, pointing out...

Responding (A LIMITED USE OF "I" IS OKAY IN THESE CONTEXTS... )

• X claims...which I agree/disagree with because.... 

• X’s point assumes x, which I would argue means...

• While I agree that_____, you could also say...

Agreeing

• Most will agree that...

• Those who suggest that x are correct because...

• X offers an effective explanation of why y happens, which is especially useful because most think that....

Disagreeing

• I would challenge X’s point about y, arguing instead...

• X claims y, but recent discoveries show this is...

• While X suggests y, this cannot be true since...

Taking the Third Path: Agreeing and Disagreeing

• While I agree that..., I reject the larger argument that...since we now know...

• I share X’s belief that..., but question...due to...

• Most concede x though few would agree that y is true...

Arguing

• Although x is increasing/decreasing, it is not y but z that is the cause...

• While x is true, I would argue y because of z.

• X was, in the past, the most important factor but y has changed, making it the real cause.

Explaining Importance

• Based on x, people assumed y, which made sense at the time, but now we realize z, which means....

• This change questions our previous understanding of x, which means that now we must assume...

• While this conclusion appears insignificant, it challenges our current understanding of x, which means that...