Fragments

Fragments are a simple way to allow students to practice using specific subject vocabulary and to allow them to become confident in constructing more complex sentences.

Originally written about by David Fawcett, a fragment is a part of a sentence that the teacher has created. The fragments are designed to be used within a more complex sentence which the students come up with. These can be used as a starter or at any point in the lesson. Below are some examples of how these fragments have been used. 

In Geography we have used them in a topic called Adventure Landscapes in a lesson about sinkholes as AFL. As you can see these are not designed to be sentence starters.

History have also trialled fragments in lead up to a written assessment task to encourage students to add detail and use evidence within their sentences. An example of a fragment was "streets were narrow and muddy". 

Lastly I have found some fragments used in another school as part of theory lesson in P.E. These fragments include, "to create movement", "muscles that relax", "the fixed bone" and "end of the". 

Fragments are a great way to get students to practice using keywords and to think more closely about how they should structure sentences. Fragments work as a spoken part of the lesson as well as a written task. 

If you do have a go at including fragments in a lesson please let me know how it goes! 

EFT