Transition Derby

It's always challenging to teach transitions to your students in a fun and engaging way, so I loved this idea that I found on OSU's old Tried and True website. I tried it with my class in the Fall quarter, and it made for a really entertaining and productive exercise.

The original suggests using pen and paper, but I had a computer lab that day, and decided to play musical chairs with my students.

The Transition Derby

Objective: To improve students' ability to use transitions effectively in their papers.
Material: Paper and pens OR computers.
Time: 20-30 minutes.

1. Tell each student to take out a sheet of paper or open a Word document on their computer.
2. Without introducing the exercise further, ask them to write a paragraph about an animal.
3. Once they have done that, tell them to pass their paper to the person to their left (if you're using pen and paper) or move one seat to their left (if you're using computers). You may make Time Warp references at this point.
4. Tell them that they need to read the piece, and then add another paragraph to it about a place. Stress that they need to transition effectively between the two paragraphs, so that they flow smoothly.
5. Once again, they need to pass their papers or move their butts to the left, and add another paragraph about an event.
6. Have the students share their final pieces with everyone else. These pieces are often very funny, and you can joke about them with the class, which is nice.
7. After that, have them make a list of all the techniques they used to transition between paragraphs, and write them down on the board. They'll pick up on repeated words and phrases, the use of transitional words, references to previous events, etc.