Mini-Lesson on Transitional Phrases You can do a mini-lesson on transitional phrases if you want. Write a list of phrases on the board: First Second Also Later on Another reason Then Finally A long time ago For example Ask Students if they could fit any of these phrases in and make adjustments to their writing to make it smoother and clearer. Note: This lesson assumes that students will write about a paragraph on each card. Of course, the level of your students will determine how much they write. More beginning writers might only write a sentence. More advanced writers might write more than a paragraph on some cards.