"Pump Up the Volume" on Transitions

After our last round of writing conferences, we noticed as a class that our transition words were repetitive. In order to address this area, we practiced "pumping up the volume" on transitions. Students were given a list of the overused transition words I gathered from my conference notes. They worked together to come up with several alternatives.

Next, students read their informational essays through the lens of "transitions" and worked together to edit their transition words.