Parallelism and Women's History
8th Grade English Language Arts Grammar Focus & Reading Comprehension 45-Minute Lesson
Learning Objectives
Identify and correct parallel sentence structures Recognize and revise stringy and wordy sentences Analyze nonfiction text about women in history Support analysis with textual evidence
Grammar Focus: Three Sentence Types
Parallel Sentences: Elements in same grammatical form Stringy Sentences: Too many ideas connected together Wordy Sentences: Unnecessary words that confuse meaning Goal: Write clear, concise, and balanced sentences
Parallel Sentences: Examples & Fixes
INCORRECT: She likes reading, to swim, and biking CORRECT: She likes reading, swimming, and biking INCORRECT: The homework was easy, quick, and that it was fun CORRECT: The homework was easy, quick, and fun
Fix the Stringy Sentence
STRINGY: 'I went to the store and I bought milk and I met my friend and we talked for a while and then I went home.' YOUR TURN: Break this into 2-3 clear sentences
Sample Fix: Corrected Parallel Sentence
Before: Susan B. Anthony fought for voting rights, she gave speeches, and organizing protests. After: Susan B. Anthony fought for voting rights, gave speeches, and organized protests. All verbs now match: fought, gave, organized Notice the consistent past tense structure
Trim the Wordy Sentences
WORDY: 'In my opinion, I think that the reason why it was a failure was because they did not prepare.' TRIMMED: 'The failure was because they did not prepare.' Practice: Remove unnecessary words while keeping the meaning
Reading Focus: Women in History Part Two
Building on previous knowledge from Part One Focus on challenges women faced historically Strategies they used to overcome obstacles Their lasting impact on society
Reading Strategy: Annotation
Highlight important names and dates Mark key phrases showing challenges Note strategies for overcoming obstacles Identify evidence of their impact
Comprehension Check
What challenges did women in the passage face? How did they overcome obstacles? What impact did their actions have on history? Find a quote showing the author's admiration
Lesson Summary & Reflection
Parallel structure creates balanced, clear sentences Avoiding stringy and wordy writing improves communication Women throughout history overcame significant challenges Their contributions continue to impact our world today