Relative clauses

I read the following idea from Sophie Bartlett on Twitter a few months ago and thought it was a brilliant way to work on non-defining relative clauses with the students.

1. Ask the students to fold the four vertical lines as shown below:

Relative_Clauses.pdfDownload

2. Have the students read the text.

3. Now provide the following information for the students to complete the first six sentences using non-defining relative clauses. Elicit the reason for the foldable. Introduce or revise the types of relative pronouns that can be used and the punctuation needed.

The girl was walking her dog.
The girl’s name was Sarah.
The dog was a golden retriever.
The park was near her house.
The boy was playing frisbee with his little sister.
The boy was wearing a baseball cap.

EXAMPLE: The girl, who was walking her dog, stopped to admire the flowers in the park.

4. Correct the first six sentences and have the students write extra information in the next four sentences. The students take turns reading the different ideas.

5. The students write a title for the story in the box provided. Encourage the students to explain their choices.

6. The foldable can be used for other more creative and collaborative writing, too!