Standard: 7.L.1c – Place phrases and clauses within a sentence, recognizing and correcting misplaced and dangling modifiers.*
Grade level: Grade 7
Subject: English Language Arts
Domain: Language
Teacher Overview
This standard focuses on helping students understand the importance of placing phrases and clauses correctly within a sentence to avoid confusion and ensure clarity. Mastery of this standard is crucial as it enhances students’ writing precision and coherence, which are essential skills in both academic and real-world contexts. Students need to have a firm grasp of basic sentence structure, including the identification and function of subjects, verbs, and objects. They should also be familiar with the concepts of phrases and clauses and how they contribute to the meaning of a sentence.
After mastering this standard, students will be able to construct more complex and varied sentences, enhancing their overall writing quality. They will also be better equipped to edit their work and others’ for grammatical accuracy and clarity.
Common Misconception 1
A common misconception is that modifiers can be placed anywhere in a sentence without affecting the meaning. This is incorrect because the placement of modifiers directly impacts the clarity and accuracy of the sentence.
Intervention 1
An effective intervention is to use sentence diagramming to visually demonstrate the correct placement of modifiers. Additionally, practice exercises that require students to move misplaced modifiers to their correct positions can reinforce this concept.
Common Misconception 2
Another misconception is that all awkward sentences have misplaced modifiers. While misplaced modifiers can cause awkwardness, not all awkward sentences are due to this issue. It’s important to teach students to identify the root cause of the awkwardness.
Intervention 2
Encourage students to analyze sentences for the specific role of each word and phrase. Provide examples of awkward sentences that are awkward for reasons other than misplaced modifiers, and guide students through the process of identifying and correcting these issues.
Prerequisite Knowledge
Students should understand basic sentence structure, including subject-verb agreement and the roles of nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. They should also be familiar with phrases and clauses and how they function within a sentence.
Subsequent Knowledge
Students will develop the ability to construct more complex sentences with varied structures, enhancing their overall writing skills. They will also be able to identify and correct more advanced grammatical errors in their writing and others’.
Instructional Activities
- Sentence diagramming exercises
- Peer editing sessions focusing on identifying and correcting misplaced modifiers
- Writing activities that require the use of varied sentence structures
- Interactive grammar games that reinforce the correct placement of modifiers
