Students will:

1. Use conjunctions to write, ask, and answer questions with a partner in a role play activity.

2. Complete a cloze activity with conjunctions as they watch the movie.

3. Write captions for images using suitable conjunctions.

4. Paraphrase sentences from the movie.

Materials:

 BrainPOP ESL

 Index cards

 Conjunctions Strips
Vocabulary:
connect, separate
Coordinating Conjunctions: and, but, or, so, however, just, for, nor, yet.
Correlative Conjunctions: both/and, either/or, neither/nor, whether/or, not only/but also.
Subordinating Conjunctions: before, after, though, although, as though, even though, as if, as long as, as
soon as, because, since, so that, in order that, till, until, if, unless, than, rather than, once, when, whenever,
where, wherever, while.
Preparation:
For Activity 1, Fortune Teller Role-Play, prepare a set of conjunction cards for each pair of students.
Conjunctions: and / or / but / however / both-and / either-or / because / although / even though / as long
as / rather than.

For Activity 2, Movie Cloze, make a copy of the following cloze for each student:

I want to know about my future, _______ I’m a little worried. It’s okay ________ you only tell me good
things. I want to know what will happen next year _______ even in ten years. _______ Moby _______ I
tried out for the basketball team. We practiced together, _______ we were separated, _______ I was
nervous. Will _______ Moby _______ I be on the team? _______ Moby _______ I will be on the team?
I’ll _________ be on the team, _____ I’ll _______ be team captain! What else do I want to know?
________ I tried hard on the test today, I don’t think I did well. Moby played computer games _______ it
was time for him to go home. _______ Moby left, I was hungry. _________ study, I ate dinner _______
then went to bed. I’ll do well on the test _________ I didn’t study hard? I’ll get a B. _______, Moby will
get an A!

CONJUNCTIONS

Conjunctions are words used as joiners.

Different kinds of conjunctions join different kinds of grammatical structures.

The following are the kinds of conjunctions:

A. COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS (FANBOYS)

for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so

Coordinating conjunctions join equals to one another:

words to words, phrases to phrases, clauses to clauses.

Coordinating conjunctions usually form looser connections than other conjunctions do.

Coordinating conjunctions go in between items joined, not at the beginning or end.

Punctuation with coordinating conjunctions:

When a coordinating conjunction joins two words, phrases, or subordinate clauses, no

comma should be placed before the conjunction.

A coordinating conjunction joining three or more words, phrases, or subordinate

clauses creates a series and requires commas between the elements.

A coordinating conjunction joining two independent clauses creates a compound

sentence and requires a comma before the coordinating conjunction
B. CORRELATIVE CONJUNCTIONS

either. . .or both. . . and

neither. . . nor not only. . . but also

These pairs of conjunctions require equal (parallel) structures after each one.

C. CONJUNCTIVE ADVERBS

These conjunctions join independent clauses together.

The following are frequently used conjunctive adverbs:

after all in addition next

also incidentally nonetheless
as a result indeed on the contrary
besides in fact on the other hand
consequently in other words otherwise
finally instead still
for example likewise then
furthermore meanwhile therefore
hence moreover thus
however nevertheless

Punctuation: Place a semicolon before the conjunctive adverb and a comma after
 the conjunctive adverb.

D. SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS

These words are commonly used as subordinating conjunctions

after in order (that) unless

although insofar as until
as in that when
as far as lest whenever
as soon as no matter how where
as if now that wherever
as though once whether
because provided (that) while
before since why
even if so that
even though supposing (that)
how than
if that
inasmuch as though
in case (that) till

Subordinating conjunctions also join two clauses together, but in doing so, they make
one clause dependent (or "subordinate") upon the other.
A subordinating conjunction may appear at a sentence beginning or between two
clauses in a sentence.

A subordinate conjunction usually provides a tighter connection between clauses than a

coordinating conjunctions does.

Loose: It is raining, so we have an umbrella.

Tight: Because it is raining, we have an umbrella.

Punctuation Note:

When the dependent clause is placed first in a sentence, use a comma between the two
clauses. When the independent clause is placed first and the dependent clause second, do not
separate the two clauses with a comma.
Types of Conjunctions
There are several different types of conjunctions that do various jobs within sentence
structures. These include:

 Subordinating conjunctions – Also known as subordinators, these conjunctions join

dependent clauses to independent clauses.
 Coordinating conjunction – Also known as coordinators, these conjunctions
coordinate or join two or more sentences, main clauses, words, or other parts of
speech which are of the same syntactic importance.
 Correlative conjunction – These conjunctions correlate, working in pairs to join
phrases or words that carry equal importance within a sentence.
 Conjunctive adverbs – While some instructors do not teach conjunctive adverbs
alongside conjunctions, these important parts of speech are worth a mention here.
These adverbs always connect one clause to another, and are used to show
sequence, contrast, cause and effect, and other relationships.

When people first learn to write, they usually begin with short, basic sentences like
these: “My name is Ted. I am a boy. I like dogs.” One of the most important jobs
conjunctions do is to connect these short sentences so they sound more like this: “I am
a boy named Ted, and I like dogs.”

Conjunction Rules
There are a few important rules for using conjunctions. Remember them and you will
find that your writing flows better:
 Conjunctions are for connecting thoughts, actions, and ideas as well as nouns,
clauses, and other parts of speech. For example: Mary went to the supermarket and
bought oranges.
 Conjunctions are useful for making lists. For example: We made pancakes, eggs,
and coffee for breakfast.
 When using conjunctions, make sure that all the parts of your sentences agree. For
example: “I work busily yet am careful” does not agree. “I work busily yet carefully”
shows agreement.

Conjunctions List
There are only a few common conjunctions, yet these words perform many functions:
They present explanations, ideas, exceptions, consequences, and contrasts. Here is a
list of conjunctions commonly used in American English:

 And
 As
 Because
 But
 For
 Just as
 Or
 Neither
 Nor
 Not only
 So
 Whether
 Yet

Examples of Conjunctions
In the following examples, the conjunctions are in bold for easy recognition:

o I tried to hit the nail but hit my thumb instead.

o I have two goldfish and a cat.
o I’d like a bike for commuting to work.
o You can have peach ice cream or a brownie sundae.
o Neither the black dress northe gray one looks right on me.
o My dad always worked hard so we could afford the things we wanted.
o I try very hard in school yet I am not receiving good grades.
Exercise about conjunctions.

In the following questions, you will be presented with different sentences. Put a tick next
to the ones you think are correctly punctuated.

1 a) I like fried chicken, but I really really love cous-cous.

b) She went to the shops, but she couldn't find anything she liked.

c) Everybody, but Tim was given a huge present.

1 1 0

2 a) I brought the washing in because it was raining.

b) I brought the washing in, because it was raining.

c) Because it was raining, I brought the washing in.

1 0 1

3 a) She was shaking, as she had never been to the palace before.

b) She was shaking as she had never been to the palace before.

c) As she had never been to the palace before, she was shaking.
 1 0 1

4 a) Find the bag of gold, or I shall be forced to cut off your ears.

b) I cannot find the gold or the diamonds.

c) Find the bag of gold or I shall be forced to cut off your ears.

1 1 0

5 a) Go to your room, and finish your grammar exercises.

b) Fetch me a bucket, and a large sponge.

c) He went to London and he found a good job with a leading bank.

1 0 0

6 a) Although the weather was awful, we went fishing, and caught a lot of fish.

b) We went fishing, although the weather was awful.

c) We went fishing although the weather was awful.

1 0 1
7 a) Unless you finish that essay, you will not get any tea.

b) You will not get any tea unless you finish that essay.

c) Your marks will suffer unless you learn some grammar.

1 1 1

8 a) She could have got a good job in the City, or she could have gone to work
with the poor in Africa.

b) She could have worked in the City, or with the poor.

c) You can have custard or ice-cream.

1 0 1

9 a) Paul took a holiday in Dorset, and his mum had a quiet week in Ibiza.

b) Steve wanted to go camping in Cornwall and his brother wanted to come too.

c) Paul's mum went to Ibiza, and Mallorca this year.

1 0 0
 1 a) You can go to Ibiza, or you can have a nice week in Dorset.

0
b) You can go to Ibiza or Dorset.

c) I wanted to go to Dorset, but my parents insisted that we go to Ibiza.

 Types of Conjunctions
Explain to students the three types of conjunctions - Coordinating, Subordinating and Correlative.

Write sentences on the board and have students help pick which type of conjunction you used.

For example:

 Roger and Leland went to the park to play ball. (Coordinating)

 What if Stephanie and I were to take piano lessons together? (Coordinating)
 The rain was pouring down outside but we were able to stay dry inside. (Coordinating)
 Even though the rain was pouring down outside we were able to stay dry inside. (Subordinate)
 I should get my birthday gift early this year because I deserve it! (Subordinate)
 Neither me nor my dog were fed dinner tonight. (Correlative)
 Not only did Roger score a point at the big game, but he also was voted the most valuable player by his team.
(Correlative)
Have students mark the types of clauses for each sentence.

Coordinating will have two main clauses separated by the coodrinating conjunction. Subordinate conjunctions will
have a main clause and subordinate clause.

 slide 3 of 4

Replacing Conjunctions
Write a list of conjunctions on the board, and then write the sentence “I went to the party, and I was wearing my
purple shoes." Ask students to identify the conjunction in the sentence (and). Then have them replace that
conjunction with one of the other conjunctions from the list. Ask students to explain how the sentence has changed.
For example, you might replace “and" with “but" or “however." You also might replace it with “because," which would
give the entire sentence a different meaning. Make sure that your students understand that all conjunctions connect
words, phrases, or clauses, but that they connect them in different ways. If you’d like, repeat with other sentences
such as “The car raced down the street, and the brakes weren’t working." (In this example, you might explain why
some types of conjunctions do not work at all, whereas some are stronger than others.)
 slide 4 of 4

Practice
Write one conjunction on each of a stack of notecards, and give out one notecard to each student. Then write the
beginning of a sentence on the board, such as “The dog leapt at the cat…" and instruct students to finish the
sentence using their conjunction. Have them work with a partner to perfect their sentences, and then encourage them
to share their finished sentences with the class.