Pitchforking Sentences

Why do we use pitchforks in writing?

• to add details to sentences

• keep the writer from repeating ideas

• to help put things in order

Which sentence has been pitchforked?

• I love to play sports.

• I love to play basketball and hockey.

• I enjoy sports, the sound of the basketball on the hard court, a sunny day at the baseball diamond, and the rough oval football in my hand.

Which sentence has been pitchforked?

• The cake had chocolate and white icing.

• The cake tasted great, warm chocolate filling, smooth arctic white icing, and delicious candy sprinkles on top.

• That cake looked good.

Choose the BEST way to pitchfork this sentence: "The pizza was good."

• The pizza was tasty and had pepperoni on it.

• The pizza was good, a scrumptious red sauce, spicy pepperoni, and a crust that was perfectly crisp on the outside but soft inside.

• The pizza had stuff on it and tasted good.

Choose the BEST way to pitchfork this sentence: "We had a fun time at the park."

• We had a fun time at the park, feeding the ducks, flying our kites, and snacking on homemade cookies.

• It was the best day at the park.

• We went on a picnic.

When pitchforking a sentence, writers choose

• two verbs.

• a verb and a noun.

• the same type of word that matches the one they pitchforked.

• to give up and go eat ice cream.

Pitchfork the word in CAPS in this sentence: "The bird FLEW into the window by accident..."

Pitchfork the word in CAPS in the sentence: "When Mom told him, "no," my little brother threw a FIT..."

Using pitchforks adds _____________ to your writing.

You can pitchfork nouns, ____________, and exclamations to add detail to your writing.