You may have heard your child talking about WABUBS and FANYBOYS.... well this is what we're talking about! The big take away is we are finding ways to distinguish COMPLEX and COMPOUND sentences, as well as how to use conjunctions well.
COMPOUND SENTENCES: Two independent clauses (sentences with a subject and predicate) are connected with a conjunction.
Example: Mrs. Robinson like to go shopping, and she likes to go get coffee.
COMPLEX SENTENCES: Needs a subordinating conjunction (or relative pronoun) to connect a dependent clause and an independent clause. The dependent clause NEEDS the independent clause to make sense. Easy to pinpoint, the first sentence makes NO SENSE alone, it needs the independent clause.
Example: After going to school, I learned that Mrs. Robinson is the best teacher ever.
Simple sentences: So simple. They just have a subject and a predicate.
Example: Mrs. Robinson always has the best jokes.
I hope that helps you understand this a bit better, and to practice you can have your child create compound sentence, complex sentences, and simple sentences FOR FUN! :)
