CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.2c

ELA7th GradeText Types and Purposes

The Standard

Use appropriate and varied transitions to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts.

Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students choose transitions that accurately show sequence, contrast, cause and effect, or examples. They connect sentences and paragraphs so an informational explanation reads as one clear whole.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can add or revise transitions without changing the intended meaning. The writing moves logically between ideas, uses varied transitions, and avoids unnecessary repetition.
Common Misconceptions: Students may treat transitions as interchangeable, using “therefore” when ideas contrast or “however” when they show cause. They may repeat “also” in every sentence or rely only on “first, next, finally.” Some add transitions where the relationship is already clear, making the writing sound forced.
How to Assess It: Give students a short, choppy paragraph. Ask them to add three different transitions and label each relationship as sequence, contrast, cause and effect, or example.

Lesson moves

Give pairs sentence strips and transition cards, then have them build a logical paragraph and explain each match.
Ask students to compare two school lunch options using transitions that show contrast, examples, and cause and effect.
Teams draw a relationship card, then race to write a sentence pair joined by an accurate transition.
Highlight transitions in a news article, then explain how each one helps readers follow the reporter’s ideas.

Free download

A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.2c, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.

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