Expanding Sentences: The Five W’s

WHO?WHAT?WHEN?WHERE?

WHY?

A sentence is …?•a series of words that explore one idea•and starts with a capital letter - a

capital letter.•a series of words that end with a full-

stop.•It usually has a subject, an object and a

verb (e.g. The dog bit the cat - dog is the subject, bit is the verb, cat is the object).

The dog bit the cat…subject- verb - object

Short example

“Mrs. Nabozny went fishing. ”

This is short & its meaning is clear.

It has a “who” and a “doing what.”

BUT CAN IT BE BETTER?

This is a simple sentence:

Mrs. Nabozny went fishing.

EXPAND it by answering…WHEN?

Last August, Mrs. Nabozny went fishing.

This sentence describes who, what, and when:

Last August, Mrs. Nabozny went fishing.

EXPAND it by answering…WHERE?

Last August, Mrs. Nabozny went fishing at Lake Wallenpaupack.

This sentence answers who, what, when, and where:

Last August, Mrs. Nabozny went fishing at Lake Wallenpaupack.

EXPAND it by answering…WHY?Last August, Mrs. Nabozny went fishing at

Lake Wallenpaupack so she could catch a big catfish!

When writing sentences, think about using the 5 w’s!WHO? Mrs. NaboznyWHAT? went fishingWHEN? last AugustWHERE? at Lake WallenpaupackWHY? to catch a big catfish

A SASSY SENTENCE: Last August, Mrs. Nabozny went fishing at

Lake Wallenpaupack to catch a big catfish!

Please don’t go on vacation!!!

Making simple sentences longer - The dog sat in the suitcase.The tired dog sat in

the suitcase.The dog, which was

anxious and worried, sat in the suitcase.

The tired dog, which was anxious and worried, sat in the suitcase in front of the old closet.

In these examples, the sentence has been extended by adding details to the sentence.

The 5 w’s will help you write better sentences.

Think: who, what, when, where, why.

In your own writing, try to use at least 3 of the 5 W’s in your sentences.Who, What, When, Where, Why

On your whiteboard…Make this sentence better…

I went for a walk.

Now this one:

He ate ice cream.