6 Exercises for Teaching Transitions for Essays
Transitions and linking words are essential for giving clarity and structure to paragraph and essay writing. Moreover, transitions help students to demonstrate their understanding of logic, knowledge, thoughtfulness and ability to organize their ideas.
1 Writing sentences with transitions 1 (with answers)
Understanding and knowing how to use transitions is essential for anyone who aims to be a good writer. In this transitions worksheet students use the pictures and their own ideas to write appropriate sentences using transitions. For me, this is the most enjoyable activity as the pictures give the students more freedom to use their own ideas.
Transition sentence writing worksheet 1 (PDF)
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2 Transitions vocabulary sorting 1
A vocabulary sorting exercise is a great way to slowly introduce students to transitions. This is the smoothest and easiest way to start a class on transitions or essay linking words. It can start out as a class activity and then transition (!) into an individual activity. Students sort the essay transitions or linking words into appropriate categories.
Transitions for essays sorting worksheet 1 (PDF)
3 Transitions vocabulary sorting 2
A transitions sorting exercise for conclusions, time sequencing and comparisons to help students improve their understanding of language and writing techniques. Students sort the essay transitions or linking words into appropriate categories.
Transitions for essays sorting worksheet 1 (PDF)
4 Transitions for argument essays (with answers)
This is an exercise to help students understand how to write counter arguments in their argumentative essays. Audio and video versions of the exercise offer a choice of studying or teaching techniques.
Using transitions to write counter arguments (PDF)
(video mp4) (video mp4 YouTube)
5 Writing sentences with transitions 2 (with answers)
This is another activity similar to the one above but using different transitions.
Transition sentence writing worksheet 2 (PDF)
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6 Sentence rewriting
Giving students sentences to rewrite helps to make transitions more accessible. This takes the students deeper into the uses and meanings of transitional vocabulary.
Rewriting sentences with transitions worksheet 1 (PDF)
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