ELA Bell Ringer for Grades 9–12: Fixing faulty parallel structure
A free ELA bell ringer for grades 9–12. Put the prompt on the board as students walk in, give them three to five minutes, then go over it together. The answer and teacher notes are in the box below the prompt.
The prompt
Each sentence breaks parallel structure: items in a list don't share the same grammatical form. Rewrite both so the items match.
- On weekends I like hiking, to swim, and riding my bike.
- The coach told us to stretch, that we should drink water, and getting enough sleep.
Answer and teacher notes
1. On weekends I like hiking, swimming, and riding my bike. (Or: to hike, to swim, and to ride my bike.)
2. The coach told us to stretch, to drink water, and to get enough sleep. (Or: to stretch, drink water, and get enough sleep.)
Quick test: read the sentence's opening words with each item on its own ("I like hiking," "I like to swim," "I like riding"). Each works alone, but mixing -ing forms with "to" forms makes the list feel bumpy. Pick one form and use it for every item. Parallel structure also matters in speeches and essays, where matching rhythm makes ideas easier to remember.
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