Correct or incorrect:
While eating breakfast, the doorbell rang.
Incorrect! The doorbell is not eating breakfast.
Corrected: While I was eating breakfast, the doorbell rang.
While taking a nap, the volcano erupted.
Examples:
The volcano erupted while I was taking a nap.
While I was taking a nap, the volcano erupted.
Draw this dangling modifier:
Flying through the sky, the students watched the airplane.
Your illustration should have flying students!
Identify the nouns in this sentence:
The quick, brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.
Fox, dog
What does a modifier do?
Modifiers describe or provide more details about other words in a sentence.
Correct or incorrect:
She almost drove her kids to school every day.
Incorrect! How do you almost drive?
Corrected: She drove her kids to school almost every day.
Covered in syrup, the kids enjoyed the pancakes.
One example: The kids enjoyed the pancakes covered in syrup.
Draw this misplaced modifier:
Covered in fur, Sarah cuddled the kitten.
Sarah should be covered in fur!
Identify the verb in this sentence:
Mrs. Robinson cheered for the Brewers last night.
Cheered
Which sentence describes the picture?
A) Playing soccer in the park, Anna was stung by a bee.
B) Anna was stung by a bee playing soccer in the park.
B! This sentence has a misplaced modifier and is incorrect, leading a reader to imagine this silly picture.
Correct or incorrect:
The girl wearing a pink dress chased the dog.
Correct!
Running through the park, the flowers looked beautiful.
One example: The flowers looked beautiful as I ran through the park.
Draw this dangling modifier:
While brushing his teeth, a spider crawled up the wall.
Identify the adjectives in this sentence:
We saw the small brown dog barking at its clueless owner in the park.
Small, brown, clueless
FREE 2 POINTS!
Congrats!
Correct or incorrect:
He saw a puppy on the way to the store.
Incorrect! The puppy is not on its way to the store.
How could we correct this?
While eating lunch, the fire alarm suddenly rang.
One example: While we were eating lunch, the fire alarm suddenly rang.
Draw this dangling modifier:
After falling off the shelf, Tom found the broken vase.
Identify the adverbs in this sentence:
She ran quickly to catch the yellow school bus before it pulled away from the curb.
Quickly, away
Which sentence best describes the picture?
A) Hiking up the mountain trail, birds can be heard chirping cheerfully.
B) Hiking up the mountain trail, one can hear birds chirping cheerfully.
A
Even though the sentence is incorrect and has a dangling modifier, it describes the picture!
Correct or incorrect:
Paul eats tacos on Tuesdays only.
Correct! He does not eat tacos any other day of the week.
Hoping to improve his grades, the extra homework was completed every night.
Draw this dangling modifier:
Jumping out of bed, the alarm clock kept ringing.
BONUS: Fix it!
Is your alarm clock the one jumping out of bed?
This interjection is Mrs. Robinson's new way of answering the phone!
"Ahoy!"
As a writer, why is it important to avoid dangling and misplaced modifiers?
A writer's goal is to be clear. Misplaced and dangling modifiers might confuse readers!