Leap into Literacy
March/April: Grade 4
Reading: Accountable Talk- Making Sure Both Partners Count!
Writing: Using Transition Words in Persuasive Essays
The Teacher’s College persuasive writing student checklist includes the following about transitions:
I used words and phrases to glue parts of my piece together. I used phrases such as for example, another example, one time, and for instance to show when I was shifting from saying reasons to giving evidence and in addition to, also, and another to show when I wanted to make a new point.
Here are some more transitions that might help students as they revise their essays. This list might work best in your classroom as an anchor chart or as a resource students can put into their writer’s notebooks.
Opinion Transitions
Sentence Starters for stating your opinion:
In my opinion
I think
I feel
I believe
I prefer
My favorite
Transitions when providing reasons:
First
To start
To begin with
Second
Next
Another reason
Finally
Lastly
More importantly
One last reason
Transitions when providing examples/details:
For example
For instance
In particular
Specifically
Additionally
In other words
In fact
An example is
Transitions when coming to a conclusion:
In conclusion
All in all
As you can see
To sum it up
To summarize
Finally
NewsELA: Binder
Newsela PRO uses percentile ranking to enable you to see how your students are doing when compared with all other Newsela students in the same grade.
Remember Newsela needs 8 quizzes in order to be able to make this determination.