ABSTRACT
Complex sentences give writers and readers a way to gather ideas together without the separation of a period. In technical terms, complex sentences contain an independent clause and one or more dependent or subordinate clauses, which can be placed anywhere in a sentence—as an opener, an interrupter, or a closer—and are usually set off with commas. The point of teaching grammar is not to transfer all the terms to students’ brains. However, as we teachers start discussing complex sentences, there are some terms we need to define with some accuracy. A complex sentence is composed of an independent clause and a subordinate or dependent clause. Students read aloud their sentences in a read-around. One person starts, and the whole room reads their AAAWWUBBIS sentence. We cheer for each other for exactly fifteen seconds and then go silent.
