Several websites offer free computerized or printable games to teach ninth-graders about run-on sentences. These games provide an ideal tool for both in-class and home studies. Online quizzes are also available to help prepare students for exams. Some online games include "Sentence Quest," "Grammar Blast," "Scrambled Sentences" and "Punctuation". In "Grammar Quest," students answer various questions about grammar including identifying run-on sentences. The computer keeps the student's score. Time the students on the quiz for even more fun. "Conjunctions," another fun quiz, asks students to identify the conjunctions in a compound sentence. This game is available in three different difficulty levels for students of various levels.
Sentence chain is an in-class or online game wherein one student utters a sentence, followed by another student who adds on to the sentence with another full sentence. As everyone takes turns, the run-on sentence becomes longer and longer. The stories told by these haphazard sentences are often hilarious and will have the whole class giggling. If you play live, designate one person to write the sentence as students take turns. Students can also play the game online as homework.
Separate students into groups of three to four. Write 10 interesting but unconnected words on the board. The team then must create a coherent, grammatically correct sentence with the words within a set time limit. They may add punctuation, articles, propositions and conjunctions. The student with the structurally correct sentence that makes the most sense wins.
Write 10 complex sentences on the board, and have the students pick out all of the parts of the sentence. Students will write down the conjunction and preposition, then divide the sentence at the correct place. The student who finishes first should raise her hand. Check her answers; if they are all correct, that student wins the first round. The winner must now write 10 complex sentences on the board for the other students and then check the fastest person's answers. Double-check the answers; if everything is correct, the two get to switch places. Students who have made a mistake must replay the round.