Melissa's 9th-grade language arts class is using an active, hands-on approach to practicing different sentence structures. Students wrote simple, independent clauses on pieces of magnetic dry erase sheets and then used a visual guide with a variety of subordinating and coordinating conjunctions to connect their clauses in different ways to create compound and complex sentences. This lesson is part of Melissa's "Grammar Bootcamp," an intensive, month-long deep dive into explicit instruction in punctuation and construction as a bridge to help students identify errors and issues in their previous writing and progress to more complex and compelling expressions of their thoughts essential for success in high school. It is clear that the students enjoy this kind of kinesthetic learning and practice. It helps Melissa assess where her students are in understanding and replicating the language structures she is teaching.