Download "Painting with Participles" concept.

Painting with Participles
A participle is a verb with an –ed or –ing ending that
is tagged onto the beginning, middle, or end of a
sentence.
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The diamond-scaled snakes attacked their prey.
(This sentence is okay, but it could be better with
some verbs to indicate the actions of the snake.)
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Hissing, slithering, and coiling, the diamond-scaled snakes
attacked their prey.
(This
sentence is much better because we can
actually picture the movements and actions of the
snake. All that needed to be done was to add a
few participles to the beginning.)
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Hissing their forked red tongues and coiling their cold
bodies, the diamond-scaled snakes attacked their prey.
To make a participial phrase ask yourself What? or To
whom? Was the action verb occurring?
Hissing what?
Coiling what?
(This is the best because instead of just adding
participles, a participial phrase was added that
gave us even more detail and description. This
completed the image in the readers mind.)
The python wrapped itself around the branch.
Beginning: Waiting, the python wrapped itself around
the branch.
Middle: The python, waiting, wrapped itself around
the branch.
End: The python wrapped itself around the branch,
waiting.
To make the participle phrase, ask: What was the
python waiting for?
Choose one of the sentences from above and add a
participial phrase.
The crowd surrounded the girl.
Beginning: Pulsating with excitement, the crowd
surrounded the girl.
Middle: The crowd, moving like a blob and growing
larger, surrounded the girl.
End: The crowd surrounded the girl, screaming at
the top of their lungs and cheering their team onto
victory.
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Add participle phrases to the following sentences. Be
sure to put them in the correct location.
The student made many careless mistakes. (Place
the participial phrase in front of this sentence.)
The old woman stopped to rest on the street
corner. (Place the participial phrase in the middle of
this sentence.)
Lori walked across the campus. (Place the participial
phrase at the end of this sentence.)