Stop & check the signal words!

When driving, people use signals all of the time. You turn your blinker on to turn left. Your brake lights illuminate when you brake to slow down or stop. The traffic light tells you when to go and when to stop.

In writing, too, signals are important. The signals come in the form of "signal" or "transition" words and those help the reader to follow the order of things. Here are a few examples of some signal words that you probably already use in your writing: "first," "then," "second," "next," "after that," "third," and "lastly." (That's not a complete list of signal words, but to see more of them, visit this URL: http://www.somers.k12.ny.us/intranet/reading/signalwords.html .)

Below you see some signal words that help with chronological order. Please look over that list, pick one or two of the words, and write a sentence for each that demonstrates how it could be used to help improve your writing.

after	afterward		when				not long after
during	finally		first				following
then	initially		later				meanwhile
next	before		now				on (date)
preceding	second		soon				immediately
third	today		until				as soon as