Sentence Gems

In my classroom, we refer to beautiful writing (words, phrases, sentences) as 'gems,' an idea I gathered from my ABYDOS writing training. After careful study of Jeff Anderson's work in the book, Mechanically Inclined, I began to adopt his method for identifying sentence patterns involving commas. I have also tried, and failed, to introduce his "Sentence of the Week" routine in my classroom. I found that in the craziness of the school year, I never quite had the time to find and locate sentences. Therefore, I decided to start cataloging them here, pulled straight from the books I'm reading. Using specific tags will make it easy to pull up an example during a mini lesson on say, commas in a series.

[sentencegems]

“Charm,” Bongo sneered. “Did you know that’s what people call a bunch of hummingbirds?”

Applegate, Katherine. Wishtree (p. 112). Feiwel & Friends. Kindle Edition. 

[sentencegems]

Birds, on the other hand, move in flits and twitches.

Applegate, Katherine. Wishtree (p. 83). Feiwel & Friends. Kindle Edition.

[sentencegems]

Days have a way of slipping past like raindrops in a river.

Applegate, Katherine. Wishtree (pp. 49-50). Feiwel & Friends. Kindle Edition.

[sentencegems]

I’ve seen many surprising friendships during my life: a pony and a toad, a red-tailed hawk and a white-footed mouse, a lilac bush and a monarch butterfly.

Applegate, Katherine. Wishtree (p. 14). Feiwel & Friends. Kindle Edition. 

[sentencegems]

In my neighborhood alone, hundreds upon hundreds of us are weaving our roots into the soil like knitters on a mission.

Applegate, Katherine. Wishtree (pp. 5-6). Feiwel & Friends. Kindle Edition. 

[sentencegems]

Her breath was a frosty veil.

Wishtree by Katherine Applegate

[sentencegems]

His mother's voice sounded tight and thin, like a guitar string about to break.

Eleven by Tom Rogers

[sentencegems]

The girl just nodded, allowing the thoughts to tumble out of me like fireflies form a jar, all lit up and glowing mad.

Confessions of an Imaginary Friend by Michelle Cuevas

[sentencegems]

The cowgirl's words leaped around my head, bouncing like crickets in a field when a person walked too close.

Confessions of an Imaginary Friend by Michelle Cuevas

[sentencegems]

My head hung heavy with trouble and sugar, like a cowboy's after a long night of riding the range.

Confessions of an Imaginary Friend by Michelle Cuevas

[sentencegems]

“We shared everything: bunk beds, baths, banana splits.”

-Confessions of an Imaginary Friend by Michelle Cuevas

[sentencegems]

“Maurice tried to swish his cape with a flourish, hurt his back, and feebly made his way across the stage using his cane.”

-Confessions of an Imaginary Friend by Michelle Cuevas

[sentencegems]

Fleur’s chers turned red like her hair, and she bit her lip with embarrassment.

-Confessions of an Imaginary Friend by Michelle Cuevas

[sentencegems]

Mr. Solway throws his head back and guffaws loudly.

Korman, Gordon. Restart

[sentencegems]

She’s definitely high-energy, and really kind of cute, crawling through tunnels, whizzing down slides, and just as quickly climbing up again.

Korman, Gordon. Restart (Kindle Location 403). 

[sentencegems]

“One more thing.” He leans back in his chair, and when he speaks again, it’s slowly and carefully, as if he’s trying to get his words exactly right

Korman, Gordon. Restart

[sentencegems]

I lie in my bed and let the sunbeams bathe my closed eyes, covert soft cheeks, and warm my crooked little heart.

Deborah Wiles, Revolution