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4th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 6 of 13

Super Sentences

Compound sentences, fragments, run-ons

What your child practices

Joining sentences with and, but, or and so; spotting and fixing fragments and run-ons; and choosing verbs that agree with the subject and match the tense.

Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards benchmark: 4.2.1.3; 4.2.1.1 · simple, compound and complex sentences, and commas with clauses

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. A complete sentence has a subject and a verb and makes sense alone.
  2. A fragment is missing a part. A run-on jams two sentences together with nothing between them.
  3. Join two sentences with a comma and and, but, or or so. The verb must agree with the subject: she runs, they run.

Example: Fix the run-on: “Sam likes art he paints every day.” There are two ideas: Sam likes art. He paints every day. Join them with a comma and “and,” or split them. Answer: Sam likes art, and he paints every day.

Super Sentences in Minnesota

In the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards, this is unit 6 of 13 in 4th grade English Language Arts, after Parts of Speech and before Word Builders.

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: Minnesota Department of Education (MDE)

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 is a compound sentence?

    • I wanted to play, but it was too dark.
    • Because it was too dark.
    • Maya and Leo played tag.
    • I wanted to play outside after dinner.

  2. Question 2

    Which verb correctly completes the sentence?

    Last winter, the lake ___ solid.

    • froze
    • freezes
    • will freeze

  3. Question 3

    Which is the best way to fix this run-on: “It was snowing we built a snowman.”?

    • It, was snowing we built a snowman.
    • It was snowing and, we built a snowman.
    • It was snowing we, built a snowman.
    • It was snowing, so we built a snowman.

  4. Question 4

    Which is a complete sentence?

    • Cheering loudly in the gym.
    • The students cheered loudly.
    • The students in the gym.
    • When the students cheered.

  5. Question 5

    Which verb correctly completes the sentence?

    Ana and Leo ___ in the choir.

    • sing
    • sings
    • singing

  6. Question 6

    Which conjunction best completes this compound sentence?

    We could eat lunch now, ___ we could wait until after the hike.

    • so
    • because
    • or

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