INDEPENDENT CLAUSESOBJECTIVES:

1. Students should understand that…a. An independent clause contains a subject and a predicate and can stand

alone as a complete thought.b. A complete sentence must contain at least one independent clause.

2. Students should be able to…a. Identify independent clauses and distinguish them from fragments or

dependent clauses.b. Write examples of independent clauses.

LITERATURE:This unit contains example selections from the novel Number the Stars by Lois Lowry.

Ten-Minute Grammar

Decide whether each example below is an INDEPENDENT CLAUSE (answer YES or NO):

1. The little purple fairy.2. She lived in the woods with all her fairy friends.3. Her name was Violet.4. Named after her great grandmother, the ugliest fairy in the

forest.5. Whenever someone calls Violet ugly.6. Violet gets really mad, knocks the person out, and feeds him

or her to the nearest tree troll.7. She has anger issues.8. According to her fairy psychiatrist.

Wordplay – Just for fun! ANAGRAM: Rearrange the letters in the nonsense phrase

below to create new words that actually make sense.ALL KEROSENE GLASS(Hint: purple and gold ball players)

DAYOne Independent ClausesTen-Minute Grammar

An INDEPENDENT CLAUSE is a group of words that can stand alone as a sentence and must contain a SUBJECT and a PREDICATE.Read each of the following excerpts from Number the Stars by Lois Lowry and decide if it has a SUBJECT AND A PREDICATE (answer INDEPENDENT or NOT INDEPENDENT):

1. and now, three years later2. King Christian was getting old3. badly injured last year in a fall from his horse, faithful old

Jubiee4. had carried him around Copenhagen so many mornings5. for days they thought he would die6. and all of Denmark had mourned

Fill in the blank to complete the independent clause:

7. My new red bicycle ___________________________ .8. ___________________________ could destroy the entire planet.

Wordplay – Just for fun! DESCRAMBLER: Try to sort out the five scrambled words below:

YBBA GANOY FRTADE RNIGESW LUNKFNIG

DAYTwo Independent ClausesTen-Minute Grammar

In your own words…

1. What is an independent clause?2. Why does every sentence need to have at least one

independent clause?

General Grammar Review:

3. Write an example of a past perfect verb phrase.4. Is “to win” a gerund or an infinitive?

An INDEPENDENT CLAUSE must sound complete and must be able to stand alone as a full sentence.Decide whether each example below is an INDEPENDENT CLAUSE (answer YES or NO):

5. That human and monkey DNA are very similar.6. Researchers discovered something.7. If I get a good grade in my science class.

Wordplay – Just for fun! VOWEL COMBINATOR: The vowel combination “ow” can sound

like the hard “O” in “go” or the “ow” in “wow.” List as many words as you can that contain “ow” making the hard “O” sound.

DAYThree Independent ClausesTen-Minute Grammar

Read the following excerpt from Number the Stars by Lois Lowry and then answer the following questions:

(a) Mama and Papa never spoke of Lise. They never opened the trunk. (b) But Annemarie did, when she was alone in the apartment; alone, (c) she touched Lise’s things gently, remembering her soft-spoken sister (d) who had looked forward so to marriage and children of her own.

1. How many independent clauses does line (a) contain?2. Is the underlined portion of line (b) an independent clause?3. Is the underlined portion of line (c) an independent clause?4. Is the underlined portion of line (d) an independent clause?

Using the proper proofreading marks, correct the six errors in this excerpt:

The hole world had changed. Only the fairy tales remained same. “And they livedhappily ever after” Annemarie recited, whispering into the dark completing the tale for her sister, who sleeped beside her.

Wordplay – Just for fun! CATALOGUE CREATOR: The suffix “-ment” means “act or

instance of.” How many words can you list that contain this suffix?

DAYFour Independent ClausesTen-Minute Grammar

REVIEW FOR TODAY’S QUIZ:

1. What is an independent clause?2. What two parts does every independent clause have to have?3. Identify which of the following are independent clauses:

a. My older brother.b. Because he joined the army after high school.c. He fought in Afghanistan for three years.d. Got injured in a helicopter crash.

QUIZDAY Independent ClausesTen-Minute Grammar

Decide whether each example below is an INDEPENDENT CLAUSE (answer YES or NO):

1. Which wasn’t part of the plan.2. Grandma makes the best pasta dishes.3. The alligator’s dangerously sharp teeth.4. After the team practiced for three hours.5. The package includes over one hundred different fireworks!6. Had just started raining.

Fill in the blank to complete the independent clause:

7. The movie, which was directed by Spielberg, ______________________ .

8. _______________________ running as fast as his legs would carry him.

Wordplay – Just for fun! FOUR-LETTER WORDS: Take the four-letter word below and change

one letter to make a new four-letter word (keep it clean!) Then take that word and change one letter to make a new word. Then take that word and… You get the picture.

LOAD

ExtraDAYFive Independent ClausesTen-Minute Grammar

Read the following excerpt from Number the Stars by Lois Lowry and then answer the following questions:

(a) The days of September passed, one after the other, much the same. (b) Annemarie and Ellen walked to school together and home again, (c) always taking the long way, avoiding the tall soldier and his partner. (d) Kirsti dawdled just behind them or scampered ahead.

5. Which part of line (a) is the independent clause?6. Who or what is the subject of the independent clause in line

(b)?7. How many independent clauses does line (c) contain?8. Is line (d) an independent clause?

Using the proper proofreading marks, correct the six errors in this excerpt:

They’re was no fuel for now homes in Copenhagen Like the other families in their building, the Johansen’s had opened the old chimney and installing a little stove to use for heet when they could find coal to burn.

Wordplay – Just for fun! FIXER-ROOTER: How many words can you think of that have the

same prefix, suffix, or root as the multisyllabic word below?NONDESCRIPT(without description or unable to be described)

ExtraDAYSix Independent ClausesTen-Minute Grammar

Read the following excerpt from Number the Stars by Lois Lowry and then answer the following questions:

(a) Peter leaned forward. “It is their way of tormenting. (b) For some reason, they want to torment jewish people. (c) It happened in the other countries. They have taken their time here—(d) have let us relax a little. But now it seems to be starting.”

1. How many independent clauses does line (a) contain?2. Is the underlined portion of line (b) an independent clause?3. Is the underlined portion of line (c) an independent clause?4. Is the underlined portion of line (d) an independent clause?5. Where is the capitalization error in line (b)?6. At the end of line (c), is the word “here” correct, or should it

be replaced with “hear”?

Wordplay – Just for fun! EIGHT BALL: Create as many words as you can using three or more

of the letters below (at least one eight-letter word is possible):E A D E D R D G

ExtraDAY

Seven Independent ClausesTen-Minute Grammar

DAYFour Independent Clauses

Name:

1.

2.

3.

4.

The hole world had changed. Only the

fairy tales remained same. “And they

livedhappily ever after” Annemarie

recited, whispering into the dark

completing the tale for her sister, who

sleeped beside her.

DAYFour Independent Clauses

Name:

1.

2.

3.

4.

The hole world had changed. Only the

fairy tales remained same. “And they

livedhappily ever after” Annemarie

recited, whispering into the dark

completing the tale for her sister, who

sleeped beside her.

DAYFour Independent Clauses

Name:

1.

2.

3.

4.

The hole world had changed. Only the

fairy tales remained same. “And they

livedhappily ever after” Annemarie

recited, whispering into the dark

completing the tale for her sister, who

sleeped beside her.

DAYFour Independent Clauses

Name:

1.

2.

3.

4.

The hole world had changed. Only the

fairy tales remained same. “And they

livedhappily ever after” Annemarie

recited, whispering into the dark

completing the tale for her sister, who

sleeped beside her.

DAYSix Independent Clauses

Name:

DAYSix Independent Clauses

Name:

NAME: PERIOD:

An INDEPENDENT CLAUSE is a group of words that can stand alone as a sentence and must contain a SUBJECT and a PREDICATE.In each of the following examples, underline the SUBJECT once and the PREDICATE twice (if it has a subject and a predicate. Then decide if it is an INDEPENDENT CLAUSE or not (answer YES or NO):

1. ______ A field of imaginary unicorns.

2. ______ Drinking a lot of water can help an athlete’s body energized.

3. ______ To drive from one side of the country to the other.

4. ______ My friend loves going to the movie theater.

5. ______ I haven’t been able to find my wallet for over a week.

6. ______ After the last day of summer break.

7. ______ Had arrived late for dinner.

8. ______ An attack of giant mutant tomatoes would be frightening.

9. ______ The monsters that hide in my closet and leave cookie crumbs on my floor.

10. ______ Walking to school instead of riding the bus.

11. ______ Paper cuts can be surprisingly painful.

12. ______ My family took a vacation to Hawaii and saw an active volcano.

13. ______ Running with scissors kills more people every year than alien attacks.

14. ______ Because of the difficulty of finding a needle in a haystack.

15. ______ Sitting too close to the TV, which can cause vision problems.

16. ______ These new headphones make my favorite band sound better than ever.

Name:Name:

Ten-Minute Grammar Independent ClausesExtra

Practice

Add a SUBJECT to the following sentences to complete the INDEPENDENT CLAUSE:

17. __________________________________________ had just arrived at the amusement park.

18. __________________________________________ like pizza more than hamburgers.

19. __________________________________________ reads five different books every month.

20. __________________________________________ was dribbling the basketball when he tripped.

Add a PREDICATE to the following sentences to complete the INDEPENDENT CLAUSE:

21. Before arriving home, my family __________________________________________.

22. The man who lives at the end of the street __________________________________________.

23. However, people from North America __________________________________________.

24. The package that contains my birthday present _________________________________________.

Rewrite the following sentence fragments, adding whatever is necessary to turn them into INDEPENDENT CLAUSES:

25. the giant, rampaging gorilla

26. has been getting in trouble a lot lately

27. watching football on a Saturday night

28. slugs, with their slimy bodies and their gross-looking antennae

29. first of all, the pictures in your photo album

30. sends thousands of texts a day

NAME: PERIOD:

An INDEPENDENT CLAUSE is a group of words that can stand alone as a sentence and must contain a SUBJECT and a PREDICATE.Read the following example sentences from Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. For each sentence decide if the underlined portion is an INDEPENDENT CLAUSE (answer YES or NO):

1. ______ Though the October day later would be warmed by sunlight, now it was gray, chilly, and damp.

2. ______ Though the October day later would be warmed by sunlight, now it was gray, chilly, and damp.

3. ______ The path curved, and she could no longer look behind her and see the clearing with the farmhouse outlined against the pale sky and the lightening meadow beyond.

4. ______ The path curved, and she could no longer look behind her and see the clearing with the farmhouse outlined against the pale sky and the lightening meadow beyond.

5. ______ The path curved, and she could no longer look behind her and see the clearing with the farmhouse outlined against the pale sky and the lightening meadow beyond.

Every complete sentence must contain at least one INDEPENDENT CLAUSE, but sentences often contain more than that.Read the following example sentences from Number the Stars by Lois Lowry and underline the INDEPENDENT CLAUSE:

6. The officer tore the photograph in half, dropping the pieces on the floor.

7. Then he turned around, the heels of his shiny boots grinding into the pictures.

Ten-Minute Grammar Independent ClausesExtra

Practice

8. Without a word, the other two officers followed.

9. Annemarie relaxed the clenched fingers of her right hand, which still clutched Ellen’s necklace.

10. She looked down, seeing that she had imprinted the Star of David into her palm.

An INDEPENDENT CLAUSE must be able to stand alone as a sentence. So even if it contains a subject and a predicate, a group of words that can’t stand alone cannot be an independent clause.The following examples from Number the Stars all contain a subject and a predicate, but they cannot stand alone as a sentence. For each example, use the proper editing mark to delete one or more words and capitalize one word to make the sentence complete:

11. That they will look for the Jewish children in the schools.

12. If they are aware that the apartment is empty.

13. Remembering how she always interrupted stories to ask questions.

14. Where wolves lived in the dangerous woods.

15. Though it seemed different in the dark.

Rewrite each of the following examples from Number the Stars, adding or deleting whatever is necessary to turn it into an INDEPENDENT CLAUSE (if it’s already an independent clause, just write INDEPENDENT and don’t change anything):

16. the place where the woods opened on one side and the path curved beside a meadow

17. but more dangerous, too

18. at this time of the dawn

19. other fisherman would be on the road, hurrying to their boats for the long day at sea

20. turned to the right and headed deeper into the woods

21. a wrong turn would have taken them into danger

22. Little Red Riding-Hood, with her basket of food