Run-ons are often a habitual grammar error for students. I’ve noticed that during the initial reading aloud of the paper, students most often catch and mark their own run-ons; they may not know how to fix them, but they notice that the sentences sound too long. Have them simply put a mark there for later when addressing grammar and congratulate them for noticing the problem. When it’s time to deal with grammar, indicate the first occurrence of run-on directly, saying “This sentence is a run-on. How can you fix it?” See if the student can recall and apply any information about run-ons from class. You may need to review coordinating conjunctions. I like to list the common ones at the top of the student’s paper like this:
,
and
, but
, so
, yet
By
listing them like this, the student sees that there should be a comma before
them. The next time that the error occurs, the tutor should challenge the
student by saying “There are two run-on sentences in this paragraph. Can you
find them and fix them?”
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