Are You Ready for
Transition Words?
that means you know about:
1. lead off and follow up detail sentences
2. related information
There are three sports that I like.
My favorite sport to play is hockey. I
play all year long at an indoor rink.
The rink is in the next town. My next
favorite sport is soccer. I have been
playing soccer since I was in the third
grade. My third grade teacher taught
me multiplication. Finally, I also like
playing football. I didn’t make the
team this year, but I will try again next
year.
There are three sports that I like.
My favorite sport to play is hockey. I
play all year long at an indoor rink.
The rink is in the next town. My next
favorite sport is soccer. I have been
playing soccer since I was in the third
grade. My third grade teacher taught
me multiplication. Finally, I also like
playing football. I didn’t make the
team this year, but I will try again next
year.
Requirements for a Detail Sentence
Each detail sentence must:
• Contain related information.
• Be in a logical sequence with other sentences.
• Include a transition if it introduces a new detail.
• Be written from the same point of view as the other
sentences
• Be written in the same tense as the other
sentences.
Detail Sentence Sequences
• Size Sequence
–When details are larger/smaller than
each other
• Time Sequence
–When some details occur before
others in time
Transitions Chart
Size Transitions
The largest
The next largest
Larger than
Equal to
The smallestThe small-sized
The tallest
The next smallest
The medium-sized
The shortest
The large-sized
At the beginning of
In the middle of
At the end of
Meanwhile
Before
In the meantime
During
After
Afterwards
First,
Second,
Third,
Finally,
In the morning,
Before noon,
In the afternoon,
In the evening,
Yesterday,
Today,
Tomorrow,
The day after tomorrow,
The first
A more recent
The most recent
In the past,
In the present
In the future,
The next day,
Two weeks later,
Six months later,
This year,
Next year,
In the next few years,
The earliest
The next earliest
The most recent
The smallest
smaller than
Time Transitions
First,
Then,
Next,
At last,
Now
Soon
Then
Later
By this time Thereafter,
At the same time,
Presently
At that instant,
After a short time
Soon thereafter,
Immediately,
Simultaneously,
Detail Sentence Sequences
• Space Sequence
–When details are arranged in space in
relation to each other
• Importance Sequence
–When some details are more important
than others
Transitions Chart (cont.)
Space Transitions
Behind
On the edge of
Beside
In front
West of
High
Over
Toward
Around
Facing
East of
Against
Under
Throughout
Near
back of
North of
Alongside
Below
To the right of
Side by side
In the center
South of
Ahead of
Beneath
To the left of
Close to
Inside
At the
Here
Low down
On top of
Next to
Outside
In
There
On the bottom
At the top
Down
At the end of
On
Beyond
On the corner
By
Up
Between
Above
Farther on
Importance Transitions
The best
The most important
The first
The best
The next best
Equally important
More important than
The next best
The least best
The next most important
Most important
The worst
The least important
Detail Sentence Sequences
Chain-Link Sequence
–When details are related in pairs or
not related in any of the above
sequences
Transitions Chart (cont.)
Chain-Link Transitions
On the one hand,
On the other hand,
Again,
Besides,
Moreover,
One example of
Another example
A further example,
For example,
One
Another
Still another
In addition,
In the same way,
In fact,
The opposite of _ is_
On the contrary side
To the contrary,
In contrast,
In spite of
Despite the
In the first place,
In the second place
In the third place,
Lastly,
Similar to _ is_
Another similar _ is_
Likewise,
Similarly,
A dissimilar _ is_
Since
A further
Further,
Furthermore,
Additionally,
The last
Last
Nevertheless,
Nonetheless,
In other words
In fact,
Also,
The first
The second
The third
Because
As
Still,
While
Instead
First,
Second,
third,
Specifically,
More specifically,
In particular,
Indeed,
Although
Even though
Even if
As a result,
Consequently,
Naturally,
After all,
Space
Transitions
Importance
Transitions
Size
Transitions
Time
Transitions
Chain-Link
Transitions
_________________
________________
_________________
____________________
____________________
_________________
________________
_________________
____________________
____________________
_________________
________________
_________________
____________________
____________________
_________________
________________
_________________
____________________
____________________
_________________
________________
_________________
____________________
____________________
_________________
________________
_________________
____________________
____________________
_________________
________________
_________________
____________________
____________________
_________________
________________
_________________
____________________
_____________________
_________________
________________
_________________
____________________
_____________________
_________________
________________
_________________
____________________
_____________________
Sequences
when to use
transitio
SIZE
When details are larger/
Smaller than each other
Largest
small
Next largest medium
Smallest
large
TIME
When some details occur before others in
time
First,
Second,
Third,
Fourth,
SPACE
When details are arranged in space in
relation to each other
Behind
Over
Below
Under
Beneath
Importance
When some details are more important
talle
talle
shor
after
imme
during
in the
meanwhile, befor
at the same time
to the right
to the left
ins
ou
in front of
in back of
at
be
Most important
favorite
The tallest
The next best
The next
largest
The worst
Equally
important
In the morning
Behind
In other words
Before
Throughout
On the
one hand
Soon
Under
One example
of
In the meantime
On top of
During
As a result
Two weeks
later
because
Lead-off Sentence
• Introduces a new detail
• Contains a transition
Follow-up Sentence
Provides more information
about the detail.
c
There are three sports that I like.
My favorite sport to play is hockey. I
play all year long at an indoor rink. The
rink is in the next town. My next
favorite sport is soccer. I have been
playing soccer since I was in the third
grade. Finally, I also like playing
football. I didn’t make the team this
year, but I will try next year.
c
There are three sports that I like.
My favorite sport to play is hockey. I
play all year long at an indoor rink.
The rink is in the next town. My next
favorite sport is soccer. I have been
playing soccer since I was in the third
grade. Finally, I also like playing
football. I didn’t make the team this
year, but I will try next year.
A Tasty Sandwich
You will find that the steps for making a peanut
butter and jelly sandwich are extremely easy. To get
started, gather all the ingredients and equipment that
you need. Find the bread, peanut butter, jelly, and a
knife. Next, you need to open the peanut butter jar and
the jelly jar. Be careful not to drop them. For the third
step, take two pieces of bread from the bag, and using
the knife, spread the peanut butter evenly across one
slice. Make sure the peanut butter goes all the way to
the edge of the bread. Fourth, spread the jelly on the
other slice of bread. Be sure the whole slice is
covered. When you have finished spreading the jelly,
you’re ready for the fifth step which is putting the
sandwich together. Take one of the slices of bread
and put it on top of the other slice. Finally, cut the
sandwich in half.
A Tasty Sandwich
You will find that the steps for making a peanut
butter and jelly sandwich are extremely easy. To get
started, gather all the ingredients and equipment that
you need. Find the bread, peanut butter, jelly, and a
knife. Next, you need to open the peanut butter jar and
the jelly jar. Be careful not to drop them. For the third
step, take two pieces of bread from the bag, and using
the knife, spread the peanut butter evenly across one
slice. Make sure the peanut butter goes all the way to
the edge of the bread. Fourth, spread the jelly on the
other slice of bread. Be sure the whole slice is
covered. When you have finished spreading the jelly,
you’re ready for the fifth step which is putting the
sandwich together. Take one of the slices of bread
and put it on top of the other slice. Finally, cut the
sandwich in half.
A Tasty Sandwich
You will find that the steps for making a peanut
butter and jelly sandwich are extremely easy. To get
started, gather all the ingredients and equipment that
you need. Find the bread, peanut butter, jelly, and a
knife. Next, you need to open the peanut butter jar and
the jelly jar. Be careful not to drop them. For the third
step, take two pieces of bread from the bag, and using
the knife, spread the peanut butter evenly across one
slice. Make sure the peanut butter goes all the way to
the edge of the bread. Fourth, spread the jelly on the
other slice of bread. Be sure the whole slice is
covered. When you have finished spreading the jelly,
you’re ready for the fifth step which is putting the
sandwich together. Take one of the slices of bread
and put it on top of the other slice. Finally, cut the
sandwich in half.
The mansion that my cousin just bought is
unbelievable. Upon entering the front door, there is a
huge hallway. It is so huge that fifty people can fit in it.
To the right of the hallway is a dining room. The dining
table can seat 25 people, so there will be many parties at
this house. There is also a beautiful chandelier hanging
from the ceiling. To the left of the dining room is one of
the two kitchens in the house. There are two sinks, two
dishwashers, and two ovens. Of course, there are also
two cooks! Across from the kitchen is the media room.
There are 12 leather seats to watch the latest movies.
Against the back wall is a popcorn machine. Everyone
loves eating popcorn when watching movies. Throughout
the entire house, one can find paintings from famous
artists hung on the walls. To sum up, this is an amazing
house for a number of reasons.
The mansion that my cousin just bought is
unbelievable. Upon entering the front door, there is a
huge hallway. It is so huge that fifty people can fit in
it. To the right of the hallway is a dining room. The
dining table can seat 25 people, so there will be many
parties at this house. There is also a beautiful
chandelier hanging from the ceiling. To the left of the
dining room is one of the two kitchens in the house.
There are two sinks, two dishwashers, and two
ovens. Of course, there are also two cooks! Across
from the kitchen is the media room. There are 12
leather seats to watch the latest movies. Against the
back wall is a popcorn machine. Everyone loves
eating popcorn when watching movies. Throughout
the entire house, one can find paintings from famous
artists hung on the walls. To sum up, this is an
The mansion that my cousin just bought is
unbelievable. Upon entering the front door, there is a
huge hallway. It is so huge that fifty people can fit in it.
To the right of the hallway is a dining room. The
dining table can seat 25 people, so there will be many
parties at this house. There is also a beautiful
chandelier hanging from the ceiling. To the left of the
dining room is one of the two kitchens in the house.
There are two sinks, two dishwashers, and two
ovens. Of course, there are also two cooks! Across
from the kitchen is the media room. There are 12
leather seats to watch the latest movies. Against the
back wall is a popcorn machine. Everyone loves
eating popcorn when watching movies. Throughout
the entire house, one can find paintings from famous
artists hung on the walls. To sum up, this is an
Slim and Happy
Daily exercise can be helpful for four major
reasons. The most important reason people should
exercise daily is to keep their hearts strong. Exercise is one
way that people can lower their risk of heart attack and live
longer. Another important reason is that exercise can build
and firm muscles. That way, their muscles are ready for
any type of use. A third reason for daily exercise is weight
control. Many people in the United States are overweight
to the point of being unhealthy. People can lose weight
and stay slim if they exercise every day. Finally, exercise
can be fun. Swimming, biking, walking, or running can all
be a fun way to stay healthy! __________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
Let’s see if we can
identify the lead off
sentences and the
follow up sentences.
Remember, lead-off sentences need
a transition word.
Mrs. Castle’s fish, Pascapolus, is fun to look at
during class for many reasons. First, Pascapolus is
colorful. He has a red face and darker fins.
Sometimes it looks like he even changes color. When
there is a lot of light in the room, he looks pink.
Another reason he is fun is because he jumps out of
the water to get his food. When Mrs. Castle puts food
above his tank, he leaps and catches the food in his
mouth. Finally, Pascapolus blows bubbles. When he
gets bored, he tries to get our attention by dancing
and blowing bubbles in the water. It’s fun to watch
the bubbles come out of the water.
C
Mrs. Castle’s fish, Pascapolus, is fun to look at
during class for many reasons. First, Pascapolus is
colorful. He has a red face and darker fins.
Sometimes it looks like he even changes color. When
there is a lot of light in the room, he looks pink.
Another reason he is fun is because he jumps out of
the water to get his food. When Mrs. Castle puts food
above his tank, he leaps and catches the food in his
mouth. Finally, Pascapolus blows bubbles. When he
gets bored, he tries to get our attention by dancing
and blowing bubbles in the water. It’s fun to watch
the bubbles come out of the water.
My fish is fun to look at for many reasons. First,
he is colorful. He has a red face and darker fins.
Sometimes it looks like he even changes color. When
there is a lot of light in the room, he looks pink.
Another reason he is fun is because he jumps out of
the water to get his food. When I put food above his
tank, he leaps and catches the food in his mouth.
Finally, my fish blows bubbles. When he gets bored,
he tries to get our attention by blowing bubbles in the
water. It’s fun to watch the bubbles come out of the
water.
Is it a Lead-Off or Follow-Up Sentence?
1. Next, the leaves on the trees shook when
the wind came.
Lead-Off
2. On the other hand, you can look for a job in
the newspaper.
Lead-Off
3. The brass section of the band should be
loud.
Follow-Up
4. Yesterday, I went to extra help before the
science test.
Lead-Off
5. Hurricanes and tornadoes can do a great
Follow-Up
deal of damage.