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Extending a Sentence

An important part of developing good written English is your ability to construct longer and more detailed sentences. Learners of English as a second or foreign language often use very short sentences and struggle to make longer more detailed ones.


Here is a task that shows you how you can develop a simple sentence like 'I made tea.' into a detailed text.

Task:
  • Go to the website: http://www.telescopictext.com/. You will see the sentence with shaded words.
  • Click on a shaded and see that part of the sentence expand. Read the new sentence and then choose another part to click on.

  • Keep clicking and reading the sentence until there are no more shaded words.
  • You see now how a simple sentence can be made more detailed.
  • Now create your own detailed sentences from one of these:
    - I went to the beach.
    - I saw a film.
    - I went to school
  • Once you have finished your sentence you can post it in the comments below and I'll publish the best ones here on the blog in a couple of weeks.

Hope you enjoyed this activity. Come back tomorrow for some more EFL ESL activities.

Related links for teachers:
Best

Nik Peachey

9 comments:

  1. Um Carioca em BrasíliaOctober 14, 2008 at 11:07 AM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lee AnnFebruary 14, 2009 at 8:03 AM

    Great activity. But please be sure the sentences are grammatically correct. "I made myself tea" says that you made yourself. It should be "I made tea for myself."

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nik PeacheyFebruary 15, 2009 at 2:16 AM

    Sorry Mr Tolbert, but "I made myself tea." is perfectly acceptable English, as is "I made myself a sandwich", "I made myself a cup of coffee." etc.

    It does not mean that I made myself into a cup of tea or a sandwich, which would be a totally different thing.

    Best

    Nik

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousApril 21, 2009 at 2:02 PM

    Hi Nik

    This looks great and we would love to use it. Can you tell us where the create page is on the site for extending a sentence?

    Thanks

    Miriam

    ReplyDelete
  5. Nik PeacheyApril 22, 2009 at 5:36 AM

    Hi Miriam

    The extendable sentence is a one off work of art, so you can't generate your own on the site. You could do something similar using Word or an interactive whiteboard.
    Sorry
    best
    Nik

    ReplyDelete
  6. Nik PeacheyApril 22, 2009 at 5:36 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  7. AdamJanuary 11, 2011 at 1:12 AM

    I'd been playing around with this and am very glad to have your explanation!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Um Carioca em BrasíliaJanuary 13, 2011 at 4:20 AM

    Hey, Nik, have you noticed that you can now write your own "extendable" texts just like "I made tea" at http://www.telescopictext.com. Just point to http://www.telescopictext.org (*** .org ***) to check it out. It's amazing! Thanks again for your tip!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Nik PeacheyJanuary 13, 2011 at 4:42 AM

    Hi Elysio

    Yes I noticed that and wrote something about it on one of my other blogs. Good to point it out here though.
    A Tool for Helping Students Develop More Complex Sentences

    http://quickshout.blogspot.com/2011/01/tool-for-helping-students-develop-more.html

    Thanks

    Best

    Nik

    ReplyDelete

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