Connecting ideas within sentences by combining clauses.

Combine clauses in a few basic ways to make connections between and join ideas (e.g., creating compound sentences using and, but, so; creating complex sentences using because).

Combine clauses in an increasing variety of ways (e.g., creating compound and complex sentences) to make connections between and join ideas, for example, to express a reason (e.g., He stayed at home on Sunday in order to study for Monday's exam) or to make a concession (e.g., She studied all night even though she wasn't feeling well).

Combine clauses in a wide variety of ways (e.g., creating compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences) to make connections between and join ideas, for example, to show the relationship between multiple events or ideas (e.g., After eating lunch, the students worked in groups while their teacher walked around the room) or to evaluate an argument (e.g., The author claims X, although there is a lack of evidence to support this claim).