Lesson plan
The Missing Link
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to use transitional words and conjunctions to join ideas in writing.
Introduction
(5 minutes)- Invite students to close their eyes and imagine that they are in a car or bus, when suddenly the driver slams on the breaks. What happens? How do they feel?
- Tell the students that just like that scenario, sometimes readers feel an abrupt change when writers don’t use transitional phrases.
- Explain to the students that they will be learning how to link ideas using conjunctions and transition words in their writing.
Explicit Instruction/Teacher modeling
(10 minutes)- Demonstrate the concept of using conjunctions or other transitional words in a variety of contexts such as the following: for the purpose of contrast (but), for a collection of objects (and), as a cause (because), to show a result (so), as a condition (if), or to provide additional examples or support (in other words).
- Write these examples on the board or a piece of chart paper for students to reference later in the lesson.
Guided Practice
(15 minutes)- Divide students into groups or pairs.
- Distribute six to eight colored pieces of paper (two different colors) to each group.
- Tell the students to use one colored strip for the transition word or conjunction and the other color for the content that is connected.
- If needed, model the process of writing sentences using the different colors of paper.
- Give the class several transition words or conjunctions to use as connections in parts of their sentences. For example, the following words can be used: and, but, for, nor, yet, after, although, because, since, though, unless, in other words, for example.
- Give the students time to create sentences that include the use of transition words or conjunctions.
- Provide additional prompting or partial sentences if students need extra help.
- After all students have finished, invite them to share their work and place sentences in the pockets of the pocket chart.
Independent working time
(10 minutes)- Ask the students to complete the worksheet Linking Up Ideas.
- Circulate around the room and provide additional prompts as needed.
Differentiation
Support:
- Provide sentence frames or additional details for students who struggle to formulate sentences.
Enrichment:
- Pre-teach correlative conjunctions and have students formulate sentences with multiple conjunctions rather than single conjunctions.
- Invite students to explore multiple ways conjunctions and transitions can be used in different contexts.
Technology Integration
- In place of using the board or a pocket chart, display conjunctions or transition words using electronic flashcard tools.
- Use an interactive whiteboard to write part of a sentence and invite students to complete the remainder of the sentence on the interactive whiteboard.
Assessment
(5 minutes)- Give students a pair of ideas and ask them to write a sentence that includes transition words or conjunctions. Allow them to choose which conjunction to use.
- Check to see that students are formulating complete sentences that include appropriate conjunctions and transition words.
Review and closing
(5 minutes)- Pair up students to be connection partners.
- Call out a transition word or conjunction and ask each pair of students to contribute part of a sentence and to use a conjunction or transition word to construct the whole sentence.
Related learning resources
The Missing Link
Lesson plan
The Missing Link
Help your students fill in the missing links! With a focus on transitional words and conjunctions, your students will discover the links that will help them combine ideas in their writing.
3rd grade
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Lesson plan
Linking Up Ideas
Worksheet
Linking Up Ideas
Give your students the opportunity to practice combining ideas using transition words and conjunctions.
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Worksheet
Linking Ideas with Transition Words
Worksheet
Linking Ideas with Transition Words
The use of transition words helps make writing smooth and connected. Use this exercise with your students to teach them to use linking words to connect ideas within their writing.
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Worksheet
Parts of Speech
Workbook
Parts of Speech
Learn the ins and outs of words with this packet that covers the eight different parts of speech.
3rd grade
Reading & Writing
Workbook
