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Add Transition Words to Improve Writing

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ELA: Writing All Ages Strategy

Add Transition Words to Improve Writing

If your student is a fine writer but needs specific ideas to improve his writing style

How To Apply It!

  1. Using transition words in writing is an easy and effective way to enrich your writing, but it is important to use variety and nuance.
  2. To find the best word, always look at the sentence before and ask yourself, "How are these two ideas most related? What connection do I want the reader to make?"
  3. Consider your goal when connecting sentences: (a) showing time/sequence (b) reinforcing the idea in the previous sentence, (c) giving an example of the idea in the previous sentence, (d) contrasting the idea in the previous sentence, (e) showing a consequence or result of the previous sentence, (f) summing it up/concluding all your thoughts.
  4. Set a goal, such as adding one transition term per paragraph. Incrementally work on adding more nuanced transition over time.
  5. Use our Mindprint guide for a large selection of transition words.

Why It Works

Students can easily get caught in a rut of using the same transition words repeatedly. However, giving them a list of words to choose from can help them stretch their writing skills and create valuable nuance which can make a big impact. Progressive mastery practices, including on specific focus on teaching transition words, has shown to improve writing skills in students as old as high school.