English·Grammar & Punctuation·procedural
Fixing Fragments & Run-Ons
Recognise and correct sentence fragments (incomplete sentences lacking a subject or predicate) and run-on sentences (two or more independent clauses joined without proper punctuation or conjunctions)
Suggested ages 9–10
Learning journey
Your child is mastering advanced grammar and punctuation — using complex sentence structures with relative clauses, understanding how to change word meanings with prefixes and suffixes, and creating cohesive, well-connected writing.
Evidence of understanding
- Identify a sentence fragment by checking whether it has both a subject and a predicate, e.g. recognise 'Running through the park' as a fragment and correct to 'The dog was running through the park'
- Identify a run-on sentence where two independent clauses are fused without punctuation or a conjunction, e.g. 'I like cats I also like dogs' and correct using a full stop, comma + conjunction, or semicolon
- Edit a paragraph to fix fragments and run-ons, choosing the most effective correction strategy for each error
Assessment prompt
If Fixing Fragments & Run-Ons's writing has a sentence like "Running down the street." or two ideas jammed together without any punctuation, can they spot that something's wrong and fix it?
Standards alignment
L.4.1fUS · ccss-ela
L.4.1f
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects · 4