Transitional Phrases After Quotes

Until that June day in 2004, PowerPoint had been the default tool for communication of ideas in many meetings at Amazon, just as it was and still is at many companies. Everybody knew its delights and perils. What could be more exhilarating than listening to a charismatic executive deliver a rousing presentation backed up by snappy phrases, dancing clip art, and cool slide transitions? So what if you couldn’t remember the details a few days later? And what could be worse than suffering through a badly organized presentation using a drab template and tons of text in a font too small to read? Or, worse still, squirming as a nervous presenter stumbled and faltered through slide after slide? The real risk with using PowerPoint in the manner we did, however, was the effect it could have on decision-making. A dynamic presenter could lead a group to approve a dismal idea. A poorly organized presentation could confuse people, produce discussion that was rambling and unfocused, and rob good ideas of the serious consideration they deserved. A boring presentation could numb the brain so completely that people tuned out or started checking their email, thereby missing the good idea lurking beneath the droning voice and uninspiring visuals

November–December January–February March–April May–June Sentence Skills Punctuation / Capitalization of First Word – Capitalize first word, proper nouns; use commas in a list; and insert correct end punctuation. Sentences Versus Fragments – Distinguish between a sentence and a fragment. – Correct fragments. – Identify and correct fragments and run-ons in paragraphs. Scrambled Sentences – Rearrange sequences of words into sentences, adding correct capitalization and punctuation. Sentence Types – Write a statement, question, exclamation, and command about a picture, topic, or text. – Write questions about a topic, picture, or text. Conjunctions (because, but, so) – Complete sentence stems with because, but, and so. – Independently write sentences with because, but, and so. Continue previous sentence activities. Sentence Expansion – Expand kernel sentences with appropriate Q words: who, what, when, where, why, and how. – Determine whether a specified part of a sentence tells who, what, when, where, why, and how. Sentence Combining – Combine sentences with compound subjects using pronouns, conjunctions (and, but, because, and so), and transitions when appropriate. Subordinating Conjunctions – Complete sentences beginning with subordinating conjunctions after, before, whenever, even though, since, and if. – Practice writing T.S.s with subordinating conjunctions. Continue previous sentence activities. Appositives – Identify an appositive in a sentence. – Match appositives to noun phrases. Transition Words and Phrases – Fill in correct transitions in paragraphs with blanks (time-sequence, illustration, change-of-direction, and conclusion). – Follow a given sentence with another one beginning with an illustration or cause-effect conclusion transition (Colonists needed transportation for their goods. As a result,________ Blacksmiths

January–February March–April May–June Sentence Skills Punctuation / Capitalization of First Word – Capitalize first word, proper nouns; use commas in a list; and insert correct end punctuation. Sentences Versus Fragments – Distinguish between a sentence and a fragment. – Correct fragments. – Identify and correct fragments and run-ons in paragraphs. Scrambled Sentences – Rearrange sequences of words into sentences, adding correct capitalization and punctuation. Sentence Types – Write a statement, question, exclamation, and command about a picture, topic, or text. – Write questions about a topic, picture, or text. Conjunctions (because, but, so) – Complete sentence stems with because, but, and so. – Independently write sentences with because, but, and so. Continue previous sentence activities. Sentence Expansion – Expand kernel sentences with appropriate Q words: who, what, when, where, why, and how. – Determine whether a specified part of a sentence tells who, what, when, where, why, and how. Sentence Combining – Combine sentences with compound subjects using pronouns, conjunctions (and, but, because, and so), and transitions when appropriate. Subordinating Conjunctions – Complete sentences beginning with subordinating conjunctions after, before, whenever, even though, since, and if. – Practice writing T.S.s with subordinating conjunctions. Continue previous sentence activities. Appositives – Identify an appositive in a sentence. – Match appositives to noun phrases. Transition Words and Phrases – Fill in correct transitions in paragraphs with blanks (time-sequence, illustration, change-of-direction, and conclusion). – Follow a given sentence with another one beginning with an illustration or cause-effect conclusion transition (Colonists needed transportation for their goods. As a result,________ Blacksmiths needed certain tools. Specifically,__________) Continue previous sentence activities. Appositives – Match an appositive to a noun or noun phrase. – Fill in blanks with appositives. – Given an appositive, write a sentence. – Given a topic, write a T.S. using an appositive. Transition Words and Phrases – Insert transition words or phrases (time-sequence, illustration, change-of-direction, and conclusion) into given paragraphs. Single-Sentence Summary – Given the subject, use question words without a kernel

May–June Sentence Skills Punctuation / Capitalization of First Word – Capitalize first word, proper nouns; use commas in a list; and insert correct end punctuation. Sentences Versus Fragments – Distinguish between a sentence and a fragment. – Correct fragments. – Identify and correct fragments and run-ons in paragraphs. Scrambled Sentences – Rearrange sequences of words into sentences, adding correct capitalization and punctuation. Sentence Types – Write a statement, question, exclamation, and command about a picture, topic, or text. – Write questions about a topic, picture, or text. Conjunctions (because, but, so) – Complete sentence stems with because, but, and so. – Independently write sentences with because, but, and so. Continue previous sentence activities. Sentence Expansion – Expand kernel sentences with appropriate Q words: who, what, when, where, why, and how. – Determine whether a specified part of a sentence tells who, what, when, where, why, and how. Sentence Combining – Combine sentences with compound subjects using pronouns, conjunctions (and, but, because, and so), and transitions when appropriate. Subordinating Conjunctions – Complete sentences beginning with subordinating conjunctions after, before, whenever, even though, since, and if. – Practice writing T.S.s with subordinating conjunctions. Continue previous sentence activities. Appositives – Identify an appositive in a sentence. – Match appositives to noun phrases. Transition Words and Phrases – Fill in correct transitions in paragraphs with blanks (time-sequence, illustration, change-of-direction, and conclusion). – Follow a given sentence with another one beginning with an illustration or cause-effect conclusion transition (Colonists needed transportation for their goods. As a result,________ Blacksmiths needed certain tools. Specifically,__________) Continue previous sentence activities. Appositives – Match an appositive to a noun or noun phrase. – Fill in blanks with appositives. – Given an appositive, write a sentence. – Given a topic, write a T.S. using an appositive. Transition Words and Phrases – Insert transition words or phrases (time-sequence, illustration, change-of-direction, and conclusion) into given paragraphs. Single-Sentence Summary – Given the subject, use question words without a kernel sentence to create a summary sentence. Continue previous sentence activities. Sentence Combining – Combine sentences using appositives, pronouns, and conjunctions.