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2nd grade · English Language Arts · Unit 6 of 12

Joining Sentences

Join ideas with and, but, so, or

What your child practices

Joining two short sentences into one compound sentence with and, but, so or or, and putting a comma before the joining word.

Alabama Course of Study content standard: 2.36 · joining ideas with and, but, so and or

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. “and” adds an idea; “but” shows something different; “so” shows a result; “or” gives a choice.
  2. Put a comma before the joining word in a compound sentence.
  3. Read both ideas and ask how they connect.

Example: Which word best joins the ideas? It was raining, ___ we stayed inside. Staying inside happened because of the rain. A result uses “so”. Answer: so

Joining Sentences in Alabama

In the Alabama Course of Study, this is unit 6 of 12 in 2nd grade English Language Arts, after Book Explorers and before Grammar Gears.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Which one is a compound sentence?

    • The bell rang, so we lined up.
    • The bell rang.
    • The loud bell.

  2. Question 2

    Which word best joins the two ideas?

    Sam was thirsty, he drank some water.

    • but
    • or
    • so

  3. Question 3

    Join the sentences: “The cat is black.” “The dog is white.” Which is right?

    • The cat is black, and the dog is white.
    • The cat is black and. The dog is white
    • the cat is black, and the dog is white

  4. Question 4

    Which word best joins the two ideas?

    It was raining, we played inside.

    • or
    • so
    • but

  5. Question 5

    Which word best joins the two ideas?

    Do you want milk, do you want juice?

    • because
    • so
    • or

  6. Question 6

    Which word best joins the two ideas?

    You can have a pear, you can have a plum?

    • or
    • so
    • because

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