When/While Temporal Clauses
Practice temporal clauses using when and while to describe sequential events.
Session summary (SOAP)
Stays on this screen. Nothing is saved or sent.
Mark a card Correct, Correct with cue or Incorrect and the summary writes itself here.
How to run it
Sort by meaning before producing. The when sentences describe a moment when something happens; the while sentences describe two things happening at once. Asking which two things overlap makes while's job explicit, which is the harder of the two. Then flip the clause order — we line up when the bell rings — since students meet both orders in reading and produce only one. Ten minutes covers the twelve.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentPresent the item and wait 5 seconds of quiet before helping.Log as correct
- HintStress the part of the sentence that changes, or point to the word ending.Log as cued
- Sentence starterSay the first half of the sentence and let the student finish it.Log as cued
- ModelSay the correct form in the whole sentence; the student repeats it.Log as cued
Adjust it
Give a sentence starter every time, and do fewer cards.
Ask for a new sentence of the student's own with the same form, with no card to lean on.
Matching IEP goal
Given sentence cards, Student will produce sentences joined with a conjunction in sentences in 8 of 10 opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions, given no more than an indirect cue.
Send it home through the parent portal →About this activity
Twelve sentences using when or while: when the bell rings, we line up; while she cooked, he set the table; while I was sleeping, it started to rain; when the game ends, we'll go home; while the dog barked, the mail carrier waited. The two conjunctions do different jobs — when marks a point in time and while marks a stretch of it — and students use one for both.
What to listen for
Listen for when standing in for while. When she cooked, he set the table is grammatical and loses the simultaneity, which is the whole point of the sentence. Watch the comma, which moves with the clause — a fronted clause takes one and a trailing clause does not, and that is a writing issue students meet immediately.
Carrying it home
Temporal clauses are easy to model. While I make dinner, you can set the table gives the structure and a real instruction in one sentence — and when the timer goes, we eat gives the other one just as cheaply.
What's in this activity
- When the bell rings, we line up.
- While she cooked, he set the table.
- When it gets dark, we turn on the lights.
- While I was sleeping, it started to rain.
- When the game ends, we'll go home.
- While she reads, he draws.
- When school starts, I feel excited.
- While Mom drives, I look out the window.
- When the movie is over, we'll get ice cream.
- While the dog barked, the mail carrier waited.
- When you finish, put your pencil down.
- While it snowed, we stayed inside.
Questions
- What grades is this for?
- Second through fifth, alongside other complex sentence work.
- Is it free?
- Yes, all twelve sentences play with no account.
- What is the difference between when and while?
- When marks a point in time — when the bell rings. While marks a stretch during which something else happens — while she cooked. Students commonly use when for both and lose the simultaneity.
Use this board with your caseload
With a free account, every correct, cued and incorrect mark is saved to the student and scored against their IEP goal, with the data written up for you. Assign it as home practice through the parent portal.
Track progress freeFree for SLPs. No card, no trial clock.