Students compare Jack's poem and Walter Dean Myers's poem using a graphic organizer that directs them to record similarities in the center boxes and differences in outer boxes. Students are prompted to share the similarities and differences they found and to compare poems aloud. Students write an original poem inspired by another poem, which asks them to connect ideas between texts.

The Write a B and B Letter activity requires students to write a 7–8 sentence thank-you note with at least three sentences containing a conjunction (such as because, and, although, but), which explicitly asks students to use clauses/conjunctions to connect ideas within sentences. The directions also instruct students to use post-it notes to jot down ideas before writing, prompting them to organize and sequence their thoughts prior to composing.

Students complete a focused activity on correlative conjunctions that defines pairs (either/or, neither/nor, both/and, not only/but also) and asks them to underline these conjunctions in five sentences. Students answer follow-up questions that require identifying whether the correlative conjunctions join nouns, verbs, or adjectives and circle correct verb agreement when subjects are joined, giving explicit practice linking sentence elements.

Students are asked to compare and contrast information (Parent Plan Skills) and to record five differences and three similarities between two versions of John Henry (Activity 6), which requires identifying related categories of information. In Activity 5, students weigh positive and negative effects of technology on a two-column 'Man vs. Machine' page, prompting them to organize ideas into categories. The 'Unnecessary Sentences' activity asks students to decide the focus of a paragraph and remove unrelated sentences, which involves recognizing which sentences belong to the main informational thread.

The lesson's Activity 2 provides a labeled list of transitional words and phrases (e.g., also, in addition, moreover; if/then, as a result; like, as, similarly, in contrast) and shows examples of transitions at the beginnings and middles of sentences. Students are instructed to read the list and "Write a summary of one of the stories you read today" using at least five transitional words or phrases, to circle them, and to ensure some appear at the beginning of sentences and others within sentences. Activity 1 (compare/contrast) and Option 2 of Activity 6 ask students to show similarities and differences between stories and to explain choices, creating opportunities to use compare/contrast transitions in organizing ideas.

Students are explicitly prompted in the Storytelling activity to "use transition words to tie the events of the story together" and to "review the transition word and phrase list in the previous lesson." The checklist asks students to evaluate whether they used transition words to make the retelling make sense. Ordering Paragraphs and the Story Book Jacket require students to sequence events and write a short summary, which can involve using transitions to connect ideas.

The lesson explicitly tells students to "use transition words effectively" when writing the rough draft and includes "Did I use transition words effectively?" on the folktale rubric. The Organization criteria ask whether sentences/paragraphs were "easy to follow" and "in a logical order," which directs students to connect ideas within and across paragraphs. The prompt to "think about the order in which the action should occur" and to "refer to your plot diagram in order to stay on topic" further encourages students to link ideas across parts of their story.

Students are asked to combine short, related sentences using appositives, participial phrases, adjectives, adverbs, and prepositional phrases (Skills and Activity 2). Activity 2 instructs students to combine independent clauses with coordinating conjunctions and to use commas correctly when doing so. The graphic organizers require students to write comparative sentences about Phillip and Timothy across chapter categories, which provides a structure for relating information across categories.

Students revise their essays by varying sentence length, combining sentences, varying sentence beginnings, and reorganizing sentences so ideas make sense. Students write a final copy of an essay about how Timothy and Phillip's relationship changed and are asked to explain the theme of the book and support ideas with evidence from the text. Students also practice editing for grammar and punctuation, which requires attention to sentence-level construction.

Students are asked to write a eulogy that includes a description of Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream and how their personal experience with Timothy helped accomplish that dream, which requires connecting personal narrative to a historical idea. The skills list directs students to "emphasize ideas in ways that help the listener or viewer to follow important concepts" and to "use details, examples, anecdotes, or experiences to explain or clarify information." The project rubric assesses the eulogy for "relation to Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream" and "emphasis on important words and phrases," which supports students making connections across ideas.

The lesson explicitly teaches what clauses are and lists dependent markers, including contrasting words (although, though, despite) and cause/effect markers (because, in order to). Students identify dependent vs. independent clauses in Part A, underline dependent markers, and combine dependent and independent clauses into single sentences in Part C. Part B asks students to add commas where dependent clauses are placed before independent clauses, reinforcing how clauses connect within sentences.

The lesson explicitly teaches coordinating conjunctions (FANBOYS) and comma placement for combining independent clauses in the "Things to Know" and the Commas and Independent Clauses activity. Activity 2 asks students to combine pairs of independent clauses with a conjunction and to write three sentences made of two independent clauses joined by a conjunction. Activity 3 asks students to write a paragraph using descriptions and to make sure at least two sentences are composed of independent clauses combined with a conjunction.

Students are prompted to complete explicit "If...then" statements about Dina's life and their own (e.g., "If I hadn't made the dresses for Mrs. Koch, then ___"). Students are asked to think of three events and "then" think of positive outcomes, and to turn those paired statements into a poem or song. Skills list asks students to identify main events, their causes, and the influence of each event on future actions, which requires linking events and outcomes.

Students are asked to research and record information on a chart titled "New York Today and Yesterday," which requires collecting information in separate categories (today vs. late 1800s). Students complete a Venn diagram comparing Dina and her uncle and write three sentences describing how Dina's life in America is different from her life in Germany, which requires comparing across categories. Quilt squares require students to fill specific content boxes (title/author, reactions, reasons Dina stayed) that organize information into distinct categories.

Students plan and organize information explicitly into categories (who, what, when, where, why, how) using the Newspaper Article Planning page and paragraph organizers that require the first paragraph to provide basic information and later paragraphs to focus on specific topics. Students are asked in the rubric to use transitional words and phrases to make ideas flow smoothly. Students are instructed to revise and edit their paragraphs using the rubric and a Handy Guide to Writing, implying attention to how ideas are connected during revision.

Students are asked to compare the map of the Connecticut Colony to a current map and to record three ideas about how geography and climate affected colonists, which requires connecting ideas across categories. The personal narrative activity asks students to set up context and choose word choices that 'draw the reader in,' and the exemplar narrative uses linking language (e.g., "a sharp contrast," "When I walked into...") that models connected clauses. The Parent Plan lists skills such as "Relate ideas, observations, or recollections" and "Select a focus, organizational structure," implying organization of information.

Students are asked to list three reasons a colonist might have chosen to be a Royalist and three reasons for a free government (Activity 2), and they complete a two-column Student Activity Page labeled "Royalist" and "Free Government," which prompts comparison across categories. The Wrapping Up section directs students to review the reasons they listed for each side, and the Introducing the Lesson asks students to summarize chapters and describe differences between characters, which requires organizing information into categories.

Students compare and contrast the Quaker and Puritan faiths by reading a passage and completing a Venn diagram, which requires them to relate similarities and differences across two categories. Students record discoveries about the community, the Woods family, and themselves in a three-column chart, which asks them to organize and consider information across categories. Discussion prompts ask students to think about how differences could have led to disagreements, prompting synthesis across categories of information.

Students are taught what a run-on sentence is and shown how to fix two independent clauses by adding proper punctuation or a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS). Examples and corrections show students combining clauses with commas plus conjunctions (e.g., "Micah went to the park, but I stayed home") and using subordinate/relative clauses (e.g., "because" and "who"). Student activity pages require students to identify run-ons and write corrected versions, giving practice linking clauses within single sentences.

The lesson's skills list explicitly states students should "Combine short or incomplete sentences with conjunctions," and it includes an Editing activity where students must "Rewrite the paragraph and correct any mistakes" (run-ons and fragments). The Parent Plan notes students will "Edit and revise selected drafts to improve coherence and progression by adding, deleting, consolidating, and rearranging text," which requires students to consolidate and connect ideas. The provided model rewrite demonstrates combining and consolidating sentences into more coherent, connected sentences.

Students read and analyze Kit's model narrative, which contains linking words and clauses such as "When I first arrived," "As soon as I arrived," "While the people were strict," and "Although moving to Connecticut...". Students use pre-writing organizers (Topical and Flow Chart) to group details into categories and are asked to write topic sentences and concluding sentences that connect supporting details to the main idea. The rubric asks for "logical and easy-to-follow sentences/paragraphs," which reinforces coherence across paragraphs.

Students complete a "Discoveries" graphic organizer where they describe a discovery for each main character and explain how that discovery changed the character's life, linking a discovery to its consequence. Students use a "Story Organizer" to connect setting, characters, problem, events, and resolution, organizing ideas across sections. Students write a movie synopsis and provide three reasons a book deserves an award, requiring them to connect supporting details to main ideas.

Students are asked to review definitions of parts of speech that explicitly define conjunctions as "a word (like and, or, but) used to connect words, phrases, and clauses." Students practice identifying parts of speech by underlining words in a paragraph using a color key that includes conjunctions, and the answer key lists conjunctions found in the paragraph. The materials prompt review and examples of conjunctions during the parts-of-speech activity.

The lesson explicitly tells students to "Begin sentences with a transitional word or phrase: 'Furthermore,...' or 'On the other hand...'" and the Student Activity requires students to begin at least one sentence with a transitional word or phrase. The "Things to Know" and parent notes instruct students to vary sentence beginnings using transitional words or phrases and to refer to a list of common transitional words. The activities ask students to rewrite a paragraph using varied sentence beginnings, including at least one transitional phrase, giving direct practice with transitional linking devices.

The Picture Me activity gives students sentence frames that explicitly use the contrast word "but" (e.g., "Today, I ____, but in the West in 1849, I would ____"), requiring students to link contrasting ideas within a sentence. The Parent Plan lists that students should "vary the types, such as compound and complex" sentences, which requires students to construct clauses and use conjunctions or other linking structures when writing. The Venn diagram and comparison prompts ask students to identify similarities and differences across two categories, prompting students to connect information across categories.

Students record two or three threats associated with each season on a divided "Survival & Seasons" wheel, organizing information across seasonal categories. Students draw and write descriptions for multiple characters and pick which character they are most similar to, which requires comparing traits across character categories. Students are prompted to discuss how life in California would be different today and whether Lucy should go with her family, which involves comparing situations and consequences across contexts.

Students are given an explicit definition of transitional words and phrases and a labeled list of transition categories (To conclude; To compare; To show time and sequence; To emphasize) with example words and phrases such as "on the other hand," "however," and "especially." Students complete Activity 1 by rewriting supplied sentences to improve flow using transitional words and phrases and by combining three related sentences using transitions. The student pages include a model sentence that uses a clause as a connector ("Rather than deciding to leave the building, the man stayed to help."), and parents are asked to evaluate how effectively students used transitions.

Students are asked to add five names not mentioned in the book from specific time periods and "explain why he added each name," which requires connecting individual people to historical categories. Students are asked to "explain the five dimensions in your own words" and "record a simple way to describe each dimension," prompting them to organize and communicate information by category. Students must answer a journal question relating the dimensions theory to the story title, producing written explanations that link ideas about dimensions and tessering.

Students are asked in the Elaboration activity to rewrite simple sentences using descriptive language and are explicitly told elaboration might involve using conjunctions (such as and, but, yet) to add new clauses. Students also complete a graphic organizer for an antagonist that asks them to record information in categories (Looks, Behavior, Thoughts, Statements) and list three ways the antagonist will try to harm the protagonist, which requires organizing related information into separate categories.

Students read a summary that contains multiple transitional words and phrases and are instructed to circle the transitional words found in the text (Activity 2). Students edit a paragraph and are explicitly told to add transitional words or phrases to make the paragraph flow more smoothly and then rewrite it (Activity 3). The parent guide provides modeled transitions (e.g., "However," "Then") and an answer key showing transitional phrases such as "On the contrary," "In spite of," "Next," "Finally," and "Instead."

The Verb Tense activity directions tell students to "elaborate on their sentences by adding interesting words, prepositional phrases, conjunctions, etc.," which asks students to practice combining clauses and using conjunctions. The Problem and Solution activity has students organize protagonist, antagonist, setting, theme, and problem/solution on a story map, which requires students to connect information across categories when planning their story.

The rubric's Organization criteria explicitly list "Effective use of transition words," so students are assessed on using linking words and phrases. The Skills section includes "Combine short, related sentences," which directs students to connect ideas within sentences. Activity 5 asks students to identify main ideas and paragraph breaks, which engages them in thinking about idea relationships across paragraphs.

Students practice combining two short sentences into one using participle phrases in Activity 2. The Student Activity Page gives examples (e.g., "Standing on the balcony..., I watched...") and five exercises for students to rewrite paired sentences as a single sentence with a participle phrase. Students are also asked to write two sentences about the book that contain participle phrases.

The Student Activity Page requires students to "Conclude by restating your position and linking reasons," which asks students to connect ideas in their conclusion. The speech task asks students to provide three supporting reasons and to "support each point with statistics, experiences, or quotations," encouraging organization across points. The activity also requires use of at least one participle phrase, which asks students to use a clause-type in their writing.

The lesson includes an explicit activity on combining sentences using appositive phrases, with examples, exercises, and model answers that show students how to rename nouns and join short sentences. The newspaper-report task requires students to use at least one appositive in their report and to fill a 5 W's chart to organize information across categories. Student pages also ask for participle phrases and sentence-rewriting that practice combining ideas within sentences.

Students are given model sentences that use linking words and clauses, for example the sample thesis: "Lemurs are found in few environments on Earth, and many species are endangered; a number of programs, however, have been established to protect this amazing animal." Body paragraphs also include connective structures such as "Because the lemur's habitat is being destroyed..." and "While hawks and fossa are natural enemies..." The outline and instructions require students to organize ideas across paragraphs (introduction, three body paragraphs tied to big questions, conclusion) and to restate the thesis in the conclusion, which models linking content across sections.