Fifth Graders' Writing
(from State Standards)
Type and Embedded Level of  Subordinate Clauses		 Return to 5th Grade Statistics TOC
Compare to All Studies

Click on the Record Number to see the analyzed text.

Rec No NC /TSC AdjC /TSC AdvC /TSC InjC /TSC L1 /MC L1 AvgW L2 /MC L2 AvgW L3 /MC L3 AvgW L4+ /MC L4+ AvgW
Avg 45.9 8.9 15.1 5.3 23.1 5.0 6.9 3.3 - - - -
1 57.1 14.3 28.6 - 41.7 9.4 16.7 6.0        
2 26.3 21.1 31.6 21.1 40.5 7.6 10.8 7.3        
3 - - - - - - - -        
4 100.0 - - - 10.0  3.0 - -        
     Only Sample # 2, written in a casual, speech-like style, includes subordinate clauses that I have counted as interjections. There are four such clauses in that sample, two of which are sentences that begin with "You see," and "You know,". These are not a construction we want to teach; in fact, most teachers try to weed them out as we try to move students into a more formal writing style. The third is actually a tag question: "Pigs aren't that bad are they?" Every pre-schooler knows how to use these, so there is no reason to teach them. The fourth is probably a formula -- "What do they think I am anyway?!!!" 
     Note that there are no subordinate clauses in Sample #3, and Sample #4 includes only one subordinate clause, and it is used as a direct object -- "Joe came over and said jeck my out. . . ." As I write this (12/21/03), I'm still not sure that fifth graders should be taught to analyze clauses. In the ideal KISS curriculum, they have grades seven, eight, and nine to work on them. But because clauses are crucial to understanding problems with fragments, comma-splices, and run-ons, there is both pressure and some reason to have fifth graders learning about clauses. But these statistics, preliminary as they may be, suggest that the work should focus on basic noun, adjectival, and adverbial clauses.  This will not hurt students who write like those students who wrote samples #1 and #2. These students already have a nice command of subordinate clauses, and they will continue to develop naturally without being rushed into more advanced and complex constructions. At the other end of the continuum, basic instruction in clauses would probably help students like those who wrote samples #3 and #4.

* Figures are actually per 100 main clauses. Thus, a figure of 27.0 means that 27% of the main clauses include a subordinate clause at that level.