Rambling Sentences5th Grade Writers’ Workshop

What is a rambling sentence?

A rambling sentence can appear in your writing

when you connect several simple ideas with the word

and.

I went to the dentist yesterday and when I got there, I had to wait forever to see him and when he finally examined my teeth, he found four cavities and now I have to go back next week to get fillings and I don’t want to go.

Example

I went to the dentist yesterday. When I got there, I had to wait forever to see him. When he finally examined my teeth, he found four cavities. Now I have to go back next week to get fillings, and I don’t want to go.

Corrected Sentences

Correct this rambling sentence.

Our student council wanted to help families in need in our

community, so we decided that we would have a canned food drive, but we needed to get students involved on a “massive” scale, and that is no small challenge.

Rambling or Not Rambling?

Treasure hunters searching for a hot treasure prospect read old newspapers and

magazines while the rest of us work regular jobs.

Rambling or Not Rambling?

My brother is taking bowling lessons at the bowling alley, and

my sister is practicing her gymnastic routines while we wait for my mom to pick us up, but she

will probably be late, so we will have to go to a drive-thru to pick

up dinner.

Rambling or Not Rambling?

Since it looked like a great day for swimming, we

headed to the beach with our towels and sunscreen.

Rambling or Not Rambling?

The oceans are great bodies of water that cover more than 70

percent of the world’s surface and are commonly referred to as seas with the Pacific Ocean being by far

the largest individual ocean and covering nearly a third of the

earth’s surface.

Rambling or Not Rambling?

The woman checked her numbers and realized that she held the winning lottery ticket, so she

started jumping up and down and called her boss to immediately quit

her job and then drove to the nearest shopping mall to buy some new shoes, but the mall was closed.