About this activity
Eight academic connectives with what each one announces: nevertheless — a contrast is coming; consequently — a result is coming; in contrast — these two things differ; furthermore — more support for the same point; conversely — now the opposite case; notably — the author thinks this one matters most; prior to — this happened earlier; regardless — the point stands anyway. Each tells a reader what the next sentence will do.
How to use it in a session
Find them in real text. These words earn their keep in a textbook paragraph, and the exercise is spotting one and predicting what comes next before reading it — that prediction is the skill. Sort them into groups by function: contrast, result, addition, emphasis and time. Twelve minutes covers the eight with a real passage.
What to listen for
Watch nevertheless and regardless, which both signal that a point survives an objection and are the most abstract here. A student who reads nevertheless as another supporting point has lost the argument's shape. Notice whether the student can predict — if they can say a contrast is coming before reading on, the word is doing its job.
Carrying it home
Any textbook or news article supplies these. Stopping at a connective and asking what is about to happen takes five seconds and makes the structure of a paragraph visible.
Questions
- What grades is this for?
- Ninth through twelfth, where textbook and academic prose become the main reading.
- Is it free?
- Yes, all eight cards play with no account.
- Why do connectives matter for comprehension?
- Because they tell the reader what to do with the next sentence. A student who misses nevertheless reads a contrast as agreement, which changes the meaning of the whole paragraph.