How to teach independent and dependent clauses

Why this matters

A student can label the four sentence types on a worksheet by spotting words like "because" and "and", without knowing which part of the sentence can stand alone. The same student then writes "Because the ref missed the foul." as a full sentence and puts a comma before every "because". Those mistakes show up in the student's own writing, and the teacher has to wait for the next essay to find out.

Independent and dependent clauses

A clause is a group of words with a subject and a verb. An independent clause also expresses a complete thought, so it can stand alone as a sentence: "We lost the last game by two." A dependent clause has a subject and a verb but doesn't express a complete thought, so it can't stand alone. It often starts with a word such as because, when, if, although, since or until: "because the ref missed a foul." When the dependent clause comes first, a comma separates it from the independent clause, and when the independent clause comes first, no comma is needed (Purdue OWL). A complex sentence joins one independent clause and one dependent clause, and a compound-complex sentence has two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause.

In the Flint activity, students tell Sparky what they did this weekend, and Sparky builds a board of clause tiles from their story. Students drag tiles into sentences, type each sentence into the chat, and name its type. A worksheet marks "Because the ref missed a foul." wrong and moves on. When a student calls a dependent clause a sentence, Sparky asks whether it can say what happened on its own, and when a comma is in the wrong place, Sparky asks the student to read two versions out loud and find the pause.

Maya's chat: which part of the sentence can stand alone?

Maya is a middle schooler who played in a basketball tournament on Saturday. She knows nouns, verbs and conjunctions, and she writes mostly simple sentences joined with "and". She thinks any group of words with "because" in it is a complex sentence.

The whole class gets the same activity: the same greeting, the same request to say what they did this weekend, and the same steps from one sentence up to a compound-complex one. Each student's chat is their own. Sparky writes the tiles from that student's weekend, and its next message depends on what the student just wrote. The board can't send a sentence to Sparky, so the student builds it on the board and types it into the chat.

Sparky uses the student's own weekendA wrong answer gets one question, not the answerA right answer gets a harder sentence

M

Maya

Interest: Basketball tournament on SaturdayStarting point: Thinks "because" makes any sentence complex

Sparky

Hi! I'm Sparky. Today you'll build sentences out of your own weekend. What's one thing you did this weekend? Tell me what happened, even if it's small.

Maya

I played in a basketball tournament on Saturday. we lost the last game by two because the ref missed a foul right at the end and my coach was so mad

Sparky

Love it, that's a great story with a lot to work with! Drag the tiles into the sentence row to build a sentence from your tournament story. When you've built one you like, type it into the chat (the board can't send it for you), and tell me which of the four sentence types it is: simple, compound, complex or compound-complex. Why?

Maya

Because the ref missed a foul right at the end. its complex because it has because in it

Sparky

Good instinct noticing "because": that word is a clue! Take that tile, "because the ref missed a foul right at the end", and ask yourself: can it answer the question "What happened?" on its own? Try dragging it next to one of the other tiles that could answer that question. What do you get?

Maya

oh it doesnt say what happened. Because the ref missed a foul right at the end, we lost the last game by two. complex because we lost the last game by two can be a sentence by itself but the because part cant

Understanding check

Exactly right! That's a complex sentence, and you nailed the reason: one part can stand alone, one can't. Now move the "because" clause to the end of the sentence on the board. Type the new sentence here, and tell me: does the comma still belong?

Maya

We lost the last game by two, because the ref missed a foul right at the end. the comma stays because theres still a because part

Sparky

Let's check that comma. Read these two out loud: "We lost the last game by two, because the ref missed a foul right at the end." and "We lost the last game by two because the ref missed a foul right at the end." Where do you naturally pause?

Maya

i dont pause in the second one. so no comma when the because part is at the end. We lost the last game by two because the ref missed a foul right at the end.

Sparky

Yes! You've built it both ways now. What's the rule you just discovered about where the comma goes with a "because" clause?

Maya

if the because part comes first you put a comma after it. if it comes last no comma

Understanding check

That's the rule, in your own words. Now a harder one: use the board to build a compound-complex sentence, with two independent clauses, one dependent clause and the right commas.

Maya

Because the ref missed a foul right at the end, we lost the last game by two, and my coach was so mad. comma after the because part since it comes first, and a comma before and because we lost the last game by two and my coach was so mad could both be sentences

Sparky

That's it! You've got a compound-complex sentence with the commas exactly right, and you explained both of them. You can now build sentences with independent and dependent clauses, put them in any order, and know where the commas go.

Found which clause can stand alone, stated the comma rule, then built a compound-complex sentence

Maya called the "because" tile a sentence because it had "because" in it. Sparky didn't tell her she was wrong. It asked whether that tile could say what happened on its own, and she found the answer by dragging it next to a tile that could. When she kept the comma in the wrong place, Sparky put her sentence beside the same sentence without the comma and asked where she paused. She stated the comma rule herself before Sparky asked for anything harder.

Maya is an example student, and Sparky's replies are shortened.

What Flint did for Maya

• Sparky built a tile board from Maya's own tournament, so every clause she dragged was a piece of her Saturday.
• When Maya called a "because" clause a full sentence, Sparky asked whether it could answer "What happened?" on its own instead of giving her the answer.
• When she put a comma before a "because" clause at the end, Sparky asked her to read two versions out loud and find the pause, then asked her to state the rule.
• After each right answer, Sparky gave her a harder sentence, ending with a compound-complex one built from her own tiles.

A teacher can't do this by hand for 30 students, and Sparky does it in every student's chat.

Who still puts a comma before "because"

When a student gives three wrong answers, Sparky flags them for the teacher under Needs attention while the class is still working. When students finish, Sparky reads every chat and sums up the class on the activity page: what most students understood, which mistake came up most, and what to practice next.

Set up the activity for free

The clauses and commas activity is in Flint's public library, with Sparky's guidelines, greeting and greeting suggestions already written. Open it, select Use activity to copy it into a free Flint account, and move it to a class. In the activity's Preview tab, select Try session myself to test it as a student before you assign it.

For more English activities, see Flint for English language arts.