Prepare examples of three to five sentences that need to be joined by transition words. These sentences should be easy for students to understand and order. For example, "get out a bowl, open the box of cereal, pour the cereal into the bowl, pour milk on top of the cereal."
Explain how transition words are important, writing different examples, such as "first," "next," "then" and "finally," on the chalkboard.
Give each student 10 note cards. Ask them to write one transition word from the board on each note card. Have them write the word big enough that you can read it from the front of the room.
Use your list of prepared sentences and write one group on the board. Read one sentence in the series of directions and ask students what transition word would be used. They will hold up their corresponding card. Then ask what sentence would logically come next and which transition word is capable of joining these two sentences. Repeat this process for the rest of the sentences in the group and the other groups that you have prepared.
Check the answers that the students give you. Make sure that they are connecting appropriate transition words to the sentences. You do not want someone using the word "next" for the final step in a set of directions.