U4 Narrative Development, Complex Syntax, Clauses and Phrases

Script skills at age 2?

Need adult help to act out routines (bath time, cooking).

Script skills at age 3?

Can act out routines alone with simple language.

Script skills at age 4–5?

Use eventcasts — narrating play (“Now the doll is sleeping!”).

What are additive chains? (Age ~3)

Sentences with no order or cause/effect, but with a topic.
Example: “I have a dog. I like pizza.”

What are temporal chains? (Age 3–5)

Events told in time order (first, next, last).
No cause/effect yet.

What are causal chains? (Age 5–6)

Full “plot”: problem → attempt → solution + reactions.

What are multi-causal chains? (Age 7–9)

Stories with multiple episodes, emotions, and more detail.

STORY ELEMENTS

What is the setting?

Who, where, when.

What is the story problem?

The issue or complication.

What are plan and actions?

Plan = what the character wants to do.
Actions = what they actually do.

What is the consequence?

What happens because of the actions.

What is the ending emotion?

How the character feels at the end.

CLAUSES

What is a main clause?

Has subject + verb; can stand alone.

Example: “I (subject) ran. (verb)”

What is a dependent clause?

Has subject + verb but cannot stand alone. “Because it (subject) rained (verb).”

SENTENCE TYPES 

What is a simple sentence?

1 main clause

One subject + one action

Example: 

“The dog barked” 

“The tall girl (subject) in the red jacket from my class laughed loudly (verb)”

What is a compound sentence?

2 main clauses joined with and, but, or.

Main clause + (and/or/but) + main clause

Example: “I tried, but I failed.”

What is a complex sentence?

Main clause + dependent clause.

Example: 

• “Because I was tired, I slept” 

• I stayed home because I was sick 

TYPES OF COMPLEX SYNTAX

What is a simple infinitive?

to + verb.

Example: “I want to eat.”

What is a complement clause?

Starts with that, what, if.

Structure: Verb + that/what/if + clause
Example: “I think that I can.”

What are coordinate conjunction clauses?

and, or, but.

Structure: Main clause + (and/or/but) + main clause
Example: 

• “She ran and jumped.”

• “She ran and he followed” 

• “I wanted pizza but I got salad”

What are subordinate conjunctions?

Common conjunctions: because, when, if, although, after, before, unless, so that

Subordinate conjunction + subject + verb
Example:

• “We stayed in because it rained.”

• Because she was tired, she slept. 

• We went inside when it rained 

What is a relative clause?

Uses who, that, which.

Structure: Noun + who/that/which + clause
Example: 

• “The girl who won is my friend.”

• The book that I bought is great.

What is a prepositional phrase?

Preposition + noun phrase.
Examples:

• “in the woods,”

• “under the table.”