Unraveling Difficult Sentences, Part 2 of 4 Series: The Adverbial Clause

Update: What does the research tell us about language & literacy?

Research Spotlight: Zipoli, R. P. (2017). Unraveling Difficult Sentences. Intervention in School and Clinic,52(4), 218-227. 

Part 2 of 4 part series: Adverbial Clauses
Last week, we discussed the latest research of Richard Zipoli out of Connecticut State University who shares 4 ways in which the syntax in sentences contributes to difficulties in reading comprehension:

1. Passive verb construction (check out June 9 newsletter for more)
2. Adverbial clauses with temporal and causal conjunctions (this week!)
3. Center-embedded relative clauses (sign up to receive next week's newsletter)
4. Sentences with three or more clauses (grand finale)

This week, we will focus on adverbial clauses. We will continue this 4 part series the next several weeks, digging more deeply into each sentence structure that causes major pitfalls for students' reading comprehension.
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The Why: What happens if I don't teach adverbials clauses to students? How will it affect their comprehension of the content text?

Comprehension problems with adverbial clauses with temporal and causal conjunctions:

• Over-Reliance of “order of  mention” strategy Students will assume that whatever is read first in the sentence is what happened first, or whatever is read first in the sentence is the cause of an action, not the effect.
  • Snape had just awarded Hufflepuff a penalty because George Weasley had hit a Bludger at him.” =
• Over-reliance on  “independent-clause-as-first-event” strategy  - Students will conclude incorrectly that the first independent clause is the first event. 
  •  After the storm hit the coast, the Red Cross arrived.
• Over-reliance on “probable-order-of-event” strategy  - Students will conclude incorrectly that dishes are washed after the dinner if that fits into their background knowledge and schema.  
  • Before you eat dinner, wash the dishes. 

How do I teach this to students? Click Here for Your Free Download of 2 Research Based Strategies !

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