Initially, Eventually, and In the end Transition Application for the 4th Grader

Objectives: Students will learn what a transition is and how to use it in their narratives to
organize and manage the sequence of events by experimenting with the functions of transitions
through small group activities and journal writing. This lesson fulfills the standard CCSS.ELALITERACY.W.4.3.B in the 4th grade writing core curriculum.
Background: Students will already have an understanding of parts of a sentence and parts of a
story. Already with their narrative in mind, students should have a good idea of the characters
and events in their narratives. The teacher will briefly explain that transitions are used to tell the
reader what is happening and when. Then the teacher will read a short story (possibly one which
is listed below in the materials section, or another better suited for his/her class) and ask
students during the reading to pay attention to the sequencewhat happens first, middle, last. At
the end of the reading, open the group up to a discussion to check for assessment on knowledge
of transitional words, for example, How does the reader know what happened first? / The author
used the word, Once. This discussion should only last for a maximum of two minutes. Then
the teacher will take two sentences from the book and write them on the board (they need not be
side-by-side, just must be without transitions) and have transitional words (i.e. before, after,
while) pre-written on slips of paper in a bucket. One student will draw a word slip from the
bucket and place it in front of the first sentence or in between the two, forming a longer sentence.
The teacher may help with formatting, commas, etc. This activity will go on for 5 minutes, or
until it is obvious to the teacher that students understand the purpose of transitions. And then
time for the small-group activity!
Target Age Group: 4th grade
Assignment: The assignment will include students writing 4 random sentences on a notebooksized sheet of paper. The sentences do not have to be related whatsoever. Then the teacher will
sort them quickly into small groups of 4-5 students. Once sorted, the first student will read one of
his or her sentences and attach a transition of choice. To which the second student will read one
of his or her sentences and attaching a transition. So on and so forth! The students will continue
reading and transitioning until all 4-5 students have shared all 4 sentences. After completing this
activity, the students can tweak their sentences or re-order them because they will be sharing in
front of the class.
Assessment:
Transitions
10-8
Engaged in class discussion on transitional words after the book reading,
wrote 4 sentences during personal writing time, participated with peers
during the small-group transition activity, and demonstrated full
understanding of the concept.
7-5
Did not fully engage in class discussion after the book reading, wrote 3
sentences during personal writing time, generally understood the
concept, had punctuation issues.
Needs Improvement
Did not engage in class discussion after the book reading, wrote 1-2
sentences during personal writing time, did not participate in small-

group transition activity, did not appear to understand at all the concept
or formatting.
Materials:
Paper, pencils, list of transitions:
Before long, Later on, After all of that, At last, While this was happening, Eventually,
Immediately, Next, Without delay, Suddenly, Meanwhile, Shortly after that, Because,
Furthermore, However, Nonetheless, etc.!
Books: (or the below excerptsor examples the educator finds better suited for his/her class)
Monster Blood by R. L. Stine
The Mitten by Jan Brett
Meanwhile by Jules Feiffer
And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street by Dr. Seuss
Garden of Abdul Gasazi by Chris Van Allsburg
Jan Brett, The Mitten
Once there was a boy named Nikki who wanted his new mittens made from wool as white as
snow. At first his grandmother, Baba, did not want to knit white mittens. If you drop one in the
snow, she warned, youll never find it. But Nikki wanted snow-white mittens, and finally
Baba made them. After she finished, she said, When you come home, first I will look to see if
you are safe and sound, but then I will look to see if you still have your snow-white mittens. So
off Nikki went, and it wasnt long until one of his new mittens dropped in the snow and was left
behind.

Next a hedgehog came snuffling along.As soon as the hedgehog disappeared into the mitten, a
big owl attracted by the commotion swooped down.Along came a meadow mouse.On his
way home, Nikki saw a white shape in the distance. It was the lost mitten silhouetted against the
blue sky. As he ran to catch his snow-white mitten he saw Babas face in the window. First she
looked to see if he was safe and sound and then she saw that he still had his new mittens.
Jules Feiffer, Meanwhile
[summary provided by GoodReads.com]
Raymond, I want you! Just when Raymond is in the middle of a comic book, his mother calls
him. Not once but five times. It's not fair! Raymond thinks. Then he thinks: What if I had my
own MEANWHILE...? Comic books always use MEANWHILE... to change the scene. So
Raymond tries writing it on the wall behind his bed.
To his astonishment, Raymond discovers that he can MEANWHILE...from one perilous
adventure to another, from pirates on the high seas, to Martians in outer space, to a posse and a
mountain lion out West. Then, at the worst possible moment, Raymond's MEANWHILE... fails
him, leaving him in a spot that spells certain doom! Unless . . .