What it is. Several short facts about the same thing can be combined into one sentence.
Why our test works. Combining is where sentence variety actually comes from — not from being told to 'vary your sentences'. The check catches the usual failure, which is repeating the subject in every clause: *The seed was small. The seed was brown. The seed grew.*
Leans on. Grade 2's joining with and, but, because.
Watch for. A combined sentence that is worse than the three short ones is a fair result — say so, and ask why.
Practice one sentence move: combine three facts. The worked example is the one you build on the board: Teacher writes a plain sentence, then makes the move once, saying what changed and why the The class reads the teaching page printed at the top of the sheet — our own writing, so a child who was absent can still get the lesson.
You open by saying where this sits — what it follows and what it is part of — in one sentence, and then you give them the reason it matters, in your own words, for about ten seconds. Before anything new, sixty seconds of retrieval on U1 set 3: ask, take the answers from boards rather than hands so you see all thirty, and do not re-teach — note who has lost it and carry on.
Then you do one yourself, building it on the board and leaving it up: Teacher writes a plain sentence, then makes the move once, saying what changed and why the new version is better. For example: “The seed was small. It was brown. It grew.” becomes “The small brown seed grew.”. Both stay on the board. The board copy is what they look back at when they stall, so it stays there for the whole lesson.
The We-do is the main whiteboard moment of the lesson — short answers, boards up on your signal, every child visible at once. Class makes the same move on two sentences together, saying the change aloud before writing it. If the answer is a whole sentence rather than a word, take it on the printed sheet instead, because a sentence written on a whiteboard is written once and destroyed.
They read the teaching page — printed at the top of today's sheet — with you, either read-aloud or FASE, never round robin. Stop at the worked example and let them look at it.
Exit directions in full, standing still, before anyone moves. Then they work alone: On the worksheet: make this move on four sentences, double-spaced.
You close on the exit direction — Read one sentence before and after the move. — taken from every child before anyone stands, and then the line you want them to still have tomorrow: Three facts, one sentence.
A combined sentence that is worse than the three short ones is a fair result — say so, and ask why.