Run-on sentences are one of the most common errors students make in their writing, so it's wise to facilitate additional practice in this area. In this article, you'll find a printable run-on sentence worksheet that uses some of the text from Who is Jackie Robinson? by Gail Herman and Nancy Harrison.

How do you fix run-on sentences?

Run-on sentences construction. In particular, run-on sentences often create an issue. A run-on sentence occurs when independent clauses are joined incorrectly. There are three common ways to correct run-on sentences:

• Use a comma and coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)

• Use a period to divide the original sentence into two or more sentences

• Use a semicolon to join two independent clauses that are related

Students must be able to self-monitor and identify a run-on sentence in order to correct run-on sentences. One way to accomplish this task is to have students identify the sentence errors and re-write to correct run-on sentences. Students will always benefit from engaging, relevant text to read, like the one you’ll find in the excerpt from Who is Jackie Robinson?. Reading correct sentence constructions will support students with run-on sentence practice.

For students in grades 3–5, using a period to create two shorter, simpler sentences would be appropriate. For students in grades 6–8, provide them with options to use a comma with a coordinating conjunction, use a period and divide the sentences, or use a semicolon.

Run-on Sentence Examples

A run-on sentence is two or more sentences that have been incorrectly written as one sentence. The sentences are run together with no punctuation or only a comma between them, like these examples:

• Saturn is the second largest planet, its rings are spectacular.

• Some species of bats are endangered, people should protect them.

• John Glenn was an astronaut, he was also a U.S. senator. 

In these examples, the run-on sentences can be corrected by separating it into two sentences, each beginning with a capital letter and ending with appropriate punctuation, by using a semicolon, or by joining the two sentences using a comma and a coordinating conjunction, such as and, or, or but. This is the kind of re-writing experience provided in the run-on sentence worksheet.

Printable Run-on Sentence Worksheet

With my printable run-on sentence worksheets students will read a portion of the text Who is Jackie Robinson? by Gail Herman and Nancy Harrison. In addition to the text excerpt, there are two practice sheets – one for Grades 3–5 and one for Grades 6–8. On these run-on sentence worksheets, students will identify and edit the errors in five different sentences.

Download the Correcting Run-on Sentences Worksheets now.

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