The Power of the Connecting Word

In my classroom we use either a tree map or bubble map and talk about connecting two ideas through the use of the word "and". The kids love doing this and reading it the pocket chart. However, I have learned my lesson since they will build a sentence and put many connecting words in and I see run-on sentences galore!
The first grade teachers would not be pleased so I have a little conversation about this!
When I first introduce the idea of a connecting word I do it through connections they can easily relate to and we talk about them. Some examples might be cookies and milk, peanut butter and jelly, toothbrush and toothpaste, etc. We do a series of these and they love coming up with the second part.