One-of-a-kind Sentences
PREPARATION
Before you discard those old magazines/newspapers with a variety of
language and typefaces, sit down with a pair of scissors and begin clipping from headlines
and advertising words and phrases. I separate many single words (don’t forget articles,
prepositions and conjunctions!) but also try to keep intact some interesting word
combinations: “people will be”, “isn’t a new”, “since the”, “fun to
play”, “do we”, “classical and”, “now what?”, and “two centuries”.
Depending on your class or group size, you need a large selection of
words and sentence fragments to work with in order to give some freedom of choice. I then
store these bits in old envelopes ready for use.
You need to also bring to class a couple of pairs of scissors and glue sticks, as well as
paper to mount the sentences on. In the classroom you will need a large surface or two to
work on, as the words get spread out, examined and arranged in possible sentences. Student
desks are much too small; tables, the teacher’s desk, or even the floor work much
better.
INTRODUCTION
I begin very simply by showing students examples of sentences other
students have done, and begin emptying my envelopes of words for them. I apportion the
total cut words throughout the class. I also tell them it is permissible to cut words out
of phrases BUT NOT to cut a word for single letters or to make a smaller word (“we”
from “were”). Their challenge is to work with what they see. Of course, one group may
ask another for a “the” or a good adjective, or even “shop” in another pile of
words. I know many will form a sentence in their mind and then look for the exact words
they “need” to create it. This is an incredibly frustrating and unproductive approach;
it misses the opportunity to free one’s mind to build a surprising, maybe crazy,
sentence they would never compose on their own.
What I have found the most productive way to begin is by focusing in on
word combinations: start with “more tomatoes”, “What should you”, and “made
possible”. So then maybe take “What should you”, add “use” and “first”: WHAT
SHOULD YOU USE FIRST. Then, finding “in”, you discover two good possibilities: WHAT
SHOULD YOU USE FIRST IN “connecting”, “the world”, “curing diseases” and
continue like that. As for “more tomatoes”, you could also be building: “So”
“the dirt” “made possible” “More tomatoes” “where” “sun, sand”
“give” “a little” “in” “the playground”. If you want to be sillier you can
reverse “dirt” and “tomatoes”! SO THE TOMATOES MADE POSSIBLE THE DIRT WHERE SUN,
SAND GIVE A LITTLE IN THE PLAYGROUND.
I find it’s best to encourage students to work on more than one
sentence at a time as they are searching through the words. I circulate and try to help
students who are getting stuck or need more encouragement. Be prepared to bend grammar and
punctuation just a little, but push students to find possessive pronouns or continuous
verbs where needed.
The creative phase takes a minimum of 20 minutes to compose a few short
sentences. At this point I pass out sheets of paper and ask students to try to improve on
their sentences by adding a colorful adjective, replacing a boring idea with something
more interesting, or extending their sentence a little longer. Only after they have
invested a little more attention to their work should they glue down their resulting
One-of-a-kind Sentence. Students can work at their own pace and some may be able to
develop several sentences. I ask even the slower ones to construct at least one during the
period.
If you have time, you nay have the class vote for the best or craziest
one. I’ve found that it is good for students to sign their creations and put them up on
the wall for other classes to enjoy as well.
Of course, the remaining clipped words are returned to the envelopes
once more awaiting their next “outing”. It is useful to keep replenishing your stock
of clipped words and phrases so maybe everyone you know can keep you supplied with older
English publications to cut from: the language of business, fashion and news offer a wide
variety of vocabulary and advertising expressions. Enjoy!
By Erin Bouma
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