Teach Transition Words for Narrative Writing

As elementary teachers, we’ve all read stories where the ideas are there, but the cohesion is a little all over the place! Thankfully, there is an easy solution to this problem. You just need to teach your students to use more transition words! 

Transition words are the behind‑the‑scenes heroes of great storytelling. They link ideas by guiding readers smoothly through events, adding clarity to writing.

This set of five activity worksheets has been designed by our team to teach your students how to effectively use transition words for narrative writing. Each worksheet contains a different activity to help students identify and apply text connectives such as temporal words, causal words and comparing words. Activities include:

• Spot the Connectives
• Connectives Cloze
• Add a Connective
• Comparing Texts
• Using Connectives in Narrative Writing

This resource downloads as a black-and-white PDF or editable Google Slides file. The download also includes an answer key to make grading the worksheets fast and easy. 

Engaging with this resource will help your students understand not just what transition words are, but how they shape meaning, sequence and cohesion in narrative writing.

Multiple Applications for These Narrative Transition Words Worksheets 

These narrative transition words worksheets have been designed by our team to fit seamlessly into your literacy program. They can be used in multiple ways in your English lessons, such as:

• Direct Instruction – Choose a worksheet to project onto your interactive whiteboard. Work through the activity with the whole class as a lesson warm-up.
• Literacy Center – Use the worksheets as part of your literacy rotations to enable students to complete the tasks collaboratively.
• Independent Practice or Homework – Allow students to work on the worksheets in class or at home at their own pace to reinforce their understanding of connectives.

Download These Narrative Writing Transition Words Worksheets

This printable pack is a ready-to-use resource that will save you time and help your students to effectively use narrative writing transition words. Use the Download button above to access your preferred version of this handy teaching tool. (Note: You will be prompted to make a copy of the Google Slides template on your personal drive before accessing it.)

As this resource contains answers, you may wish to print one copy only, then remove the answer sheet before making further copies.

For sustainability purposes, please consider printing this worksheet pack double-sided.

This resource was created by Kaylyn Chupp, a teacher in Florida and a Teach Starter collaborator.

More Resources for Exploring Narrative Transitional Words

If you’re looking for more engaging resources to enhance your students’ understanding of transitional words, you’ve come to the right place! Click below to explore more teacher-created gems to complement your ELA planning.

teaching resource

Cohesive Devices Teaching Slides

Explore cohesive devices with this engaging teaching slide deck designed to help primary students understand and use them confidently in their writing.

teaching resource

Conjunctions Anchor Chart Pack

Display this set of 7 text connectives posters to remind students about the types of sentence connectives and conjunctions.

teaching resource

Time Order Words - Transition Words Word Wall

Help your students demonstrate the passage of time in their writing with 35 time-order transition word cards.