A slide deck for teachers to use to explicit instruct students how to improve their sentences using participle phrases

1. Complex sentences
using -ing phrases

2. Teacher notes:
The technical term for the -ING phrase we are learning here is a participle phrase, however we do not name it in these
slides. It is not important for students to learn the grammatical term, but rather become familiar with purposefully using
the technique and being able to find it is writing.
When students begin to learn this, they often think that every -ING word is a participle phrase. In the 3 examples below,
only number 1 is the -ING phrase that we are learning (aka participle phrase).
1. Pinching his nose, Harry drank the potion down in two large gulps. [not part of the verb - drank - can be removed
from the sentence]
2. Harry was pinching his nose as he drank the potion down in two large gulps. [part of the verb - was pinching -
cannot be removed from the sentence]
3. I am running to the shops. [part of the verb - was running - cannot be removed from the sentence]
These slides start by the teaching the structure as an -ING phrase. When students are familiar with the structure, you may
wish to name it.

3. Teacher notes:
Definition
A participle is an ing word placed at the beginning or end of a complete sentence.
There are other types of participles, but you only need to know this type to get
started.
From Harry Noden: Image Grammar: teaching Grammar as Part of the Writing Process

4. Harry drank the potion down in two large gulps.
HP and the Chamber of Secrets
Why does he drink it so quickly? Is
he thirsty?
What if the potion tasted bad? How
would we show that?
SHOW
How can we SHOW more detail by using an -ING phrase?

5. Pinching his nose, Harry drank the potion down in two large gulps.
HP and the Chamber of Secrets
Improved
The sentence now ‘shows’ the smell of the potion, and why he drank it so
quickly.
Use an –ing ending word to add detail to your sentences
Notice the punctuation changes.
Use a comma after beginning a
sentence with an –ing word
(a participle).

6. Imitate
Let’s write a sentence together, imitating one of our model sentence
Model sentence
Pinching his nose, Harry drank the potion down in two large gulps.
Independent
Rubbing her hands together, Julia stood in front of the fire.
John looked at the examination paper.
Scratching his head,
Imitate the model sentence above as shown in the guided examples.
Paste your sentence into the google document and then complete the next task
Guided
What do these sentences show
the reader?

7. Write a simple sentence
Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA
2.0)
Create a short, simple sentence for
the image you want to describe.
For this sentence you may write a
sentence like this:
The lion woke from his slumber.

8. Write a simple sentence
Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA
2.0)
Now zoom in on details that you
wish to bring out, visual or auditory.
Add an -ing ending word to the
beginning of the sentence.
For example stretching or yawning
The lion woke from his slumber.

9. Write a simple sentence
Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA
2.0)
Now zoom in on details that you
wish to bring out, visual or auditory.
Add an -ing ending word to the
beginning of the sentence.
For example stretching or yawning
Stretching, the lion woke from
his slumber.
Stretching and yawning, the
lion woke from his slumber.

10. Write a simple sentence
Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA
2.0)
Lets extend the single -ING word
into an -ING phrase.
Stretching his legs and
yawning his powerful jaw, the
lion woke from his slumber.

11. Your turn
Write a short sentence about this picture, then zoom in on the details by addin an -ING ending word/s or phrases.

12. Spotting the -ing phrase
There are lots of -ing ending words in a story, but that doesn’t mean they are the -ing phrase we are learning.
The -ing phrase we are learning can be removed from the sentence, and the sentence still make sense.
Let’s have a look at this in a bit more detail
-ING phrase
Pinching his nose, Harry drank the
potion down in two large gulps
Not an -ING phrase
Harry was pinching his nose as he
drank the potion down in two large
gulps.
I am running to the shops.

13. Spot the -ING phrase
Underline the -ING phrase in the sentences below. Remember that only the -ING phrase can be removed from the sentence. If
it cannot be removed, it is likely part of the verb.
1. Everyone turned and looked out of the dome, staring at the edge of the rainforest.
2. Doctor Dross raised his right arm, readying to give the signal to begin.
3. Harry was feeling slightly more cheerful.
4. It kissed Kelvin’s cheek before sitting down, leaving behind a good dollop of bear saliva.
5. The captain was worried about skidding left and right with sparks flying everywhere.
6. But before long, he found himself scampering up the redwood tree, leading the others higher and higher.
7. Lying back in the soft snow, I folded my hands behind my head and let my mind wander back over two years.
8. Arriving at the used-up haystack, the boy leaned against the barbed wire fence.

14. Spot the -ING phrase
Answers
Underline the -ING phrase in the sentences below. Remember that only the -ING phrase can be removed from the sentence. If
it cannot be removed, it is likely part of the verb.
1. Everyone turned and looked out of the dome, staring at the edge of the rainforest.
2. Doctor Dross raised his right arm, readying to give the signal to begin.
3. Harry was feeling slightly more cheerful. [part of the verb: was feeling]
4. It kissed Kelvin’s cheek before sitting down, leaving behind a good dollop of bear saliva. [sitting down is not part of an -
ing phrase]
5. The captain was worried about skidding left and right with sparks flying everywhere. [skidding left is not part of an -ing
phrase]
6. But before long, he found himself scampering up the redwood tree, leading the others higher and higher.
7. Lying back in the soft snow, I folded my hands behind my head and let my mind wander back over two years.
8. Arriving at the used-up haystack, the boy leaned against the barbed wire fence.

15. Different structures
There are 3 main structures you could use. Let’s learn how to use them to improve
our writing.

16. 3 main structures
Pinching his nose, Harry drank the potion down in two large gulps.
J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Lockhart, wearing lurid pink robes to match the decorations, was waving for silence.
J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
The bus motor idles, putting out a long tornado of blue smoke.
Chuck Palalhniuk, Choke
opener
interrupter
closer
Top tip:
Vary the location of the -ing phrase. This helps to create a sophisticated style.

17. 3 main structures
Pinching his nose, Harry drank the potion down in two large gulps.
J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Lockhart, wearing lurid pink robes to match the decorations, was waving for silence.
J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
The bus motor idles, putting out a long tornado of blue smoke.
Chuck Palalhniuk, Choke
opener
interrupter
closer
Your turn:
Imitate each of the sentence models above. Practice the 3 main structures of opener,
interrupter and closer.

18. Playing with sentence parts
The dog approached me.
Class task
Brainstorm all the -ing verbs that a dog can do

19. Playing with sentence parts
Add your brainstormed words and phrases to the table.
The dog approached me.
Opener Interrupter Closer
____________________, the dog
approached me.
The dog, ___________________,
approached me.
The dog approached me,
_____________.

20. Write a few sentences for each of the images shown in the slides. Include an example of an -ING phrase for each picture.
Try and use a different sentence structure (opener, closer, interrupter) for each image
Success Criteria:
Writing task
Skydiver Lion Hiker The crowd
I used an -ING phrase Opener/Interrupter/Cl
oser
(10 points)
Opener/Interrupter/Cl
oser
(10 points)
Opener/Interrupter/Cl
oser
(10 points)
Opener/Interrupter/Cl
oser
(10 points)

21. Attribution-ShareAlike
2.0
Generic
(CC
BY-SA
2.0)

22. Appendix
On the following pages, you will find:
● Extra models for students to imitate. You may wish to spread these out over a period of
time.
● Visual scaffold of complex sentence structures.
Modify the visual sentence scaffolds for classroom display. These general structures are useful for
students to continually refer to when they are experimenting with sentence variations.

23. Classroom models
Here are some models you may wish to use in your classroom. You could use these models over the course of a week
where students imitate each one. This is a easy task which provides you with very fast formative data.
Sample models for imitation
1. The crocodile, pretending to be a harmless log, glided silently toward her.
2. A woman stood on her back step, arms folded, waiting.
3. Sophie, sitting on the Big Friendly Giant’s hand, peeped out of the cave.
4. The fly in the spider web was beating its wings furiously, trying to break loose and free itself.
5. The children came charging back into their homeroom, shouting and screaming.
6. Holding him by the ears, the Trunchbull lowered him back into his chair beside the desk.
7. Standing in the clear sunshine, the prince breathed in the sweet, fresh air.
8. Remembering the crash, he had a moment of fear, a breath-tightening little rip of terror.

24. Visual sentence scaffolds
3 basic complex sentence patterns
Use a comma to set off an opener
Opener , sentence .
Use two commas to set off an interrupter
Sent , interrupter , ence .
Use a comma to set off a closer
Sentence , closer .