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Drip, Drip, Done: Transitions for Fixing the Kitchen Sink worksheet preview

Worksheet

Drip, Drip, Done: Transitions for Fixing the Kitchen Sink

Read a story about a girl and her grandfather fixing a dripping faucet, find transitional words and phrases, and use them to tell events in order.

Grade 4ELAInteractive · Printable

Aligned toW.4.3.c

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What’s included

  • Single worksheet
  • Auto-graded online
  • 1 Common Core standard
  • Printable answer key
  • 9 questions
  • Classroom-ready

Details

Format
Interactive · Printable
Grade
Grade 4
Subject
ELA
Question types
Fill in the blank, Multiple choice, Matching, Circle the answer, Sorting, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

  • Students identify transitional words and phrases that show the order of events in a story.
  • Students tell whether a transition shows events happening at the same time or later.
  • Students use a variety of transitions to sequence events in their own writing.

How to use

Read the story together and have students box each word or phrase that tells when something happens, then let them answer the questions and write their own short account.

Curriculum

Common Core standard covered

W.4.3.c

Use a variety of transitional words and phrases to manage the sequence of events.

Preview

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Name Date

Drip, Drip, Done: Transitions for Fixing the Kitchen Sink

Find the words and phrases that keep story events in order.

Read the story

Read the story. Pay attention to the words that tell when each thing happens.

The Troublemaker Under the Faucet

1All night long, the kitchen faucet went drip, drip, drip. At breakfast, my grandfather set down his cup and frowned at the sink. "Rosa," he said, "today you and I are going to be plumbers."

2First, Abuelo opened the cabinet under the sink and showed me two small handles on the pipes. We turned them until they stopped, which shut off the water to the faucet. Next, he pushed a rubber stopper into the drain. "Tiny parts love to escape down there," he explained.

3After that, it was my turn. I used a screwdriver to loosen the screw on top of the faucet handle, and then I lifted the handle off. Underneath was a small metal piece. Abuelo twisted it out with a wrench, and at the bottom we found a little rubber ring, flat and cracked like an old sneaker sole. "There's our troublemaker," he said.

4Meanwhile, my little brother, Nico, had climbed onto a chair to watch. He wanted to hold every tool. To keep him busy, Abuelo gave him a job: lining up the screws on a dish towel in the order we took them out.

5Later that morning, we walked to the hardware store with the cracked ring in a plastic bag. A clerk found a new ring that matched it in less than a minute. As soon as we got home, I fit the new ring into place.

6Then we put everything back together in the opposite order, using Nico's line of screws as our guide. Finally, we turned the water back on. I held my breath and stared at the faucet. Ten seconds passed. Then a whole minute went by. Not one drop fell.

7That night, the kitchen was perfectly quiet. Abuelo grinned at me across the dinner table. "Not bad for your first day on the job," he said.

Transitions in the story

Answer each question. Use the story to help you.

1.
Circle the four words and phrases from the story that are transitions. They tell when something happens.

firstfaucetdrainmeanwhilelater that morningscrewdriverfinallydish towel

2.
Paragraph 4 begins with the word "Meanwhile." What does this word tell the reader?
  • A. Nico came into the kitchen after the faucet was fixed.
  • B. Nico was watching while Rosa and Abuelo did the repair.
  • C. Nico climbed onto the chair before breakfast started.
  • D. Nico walked to the hardware store before the others.
3.
Which phrase in paragraph 5 tells the reader that Rosa fit the new ring right after she got home?
  • A. in a plastic bag
  • B. Later that morning
  • C. As soon as
  • D. in less than a minute
4.
Match each event to the order in which it happens in the story.
  1. Rosa and Abuelo walk to the hardware store.
  2. Rosa lifts the handle off the faucet.
  3. Rosa and Abuelo turn the water back on.
  4. Rosa and Abuelo shut off the water under the sink.
  1. A. first
  2. B. second
  3. C. third
  4. D. fourth
5.
In paragraph 6, the writer says, "Ten seconds passed. Then a whole minute went by." Why does the writer include these sentences?
  • A. to tell how long the trip to the store took
  • B. to tell how long Nico spent lining up screws
  • C. to show that the faucet was dripping very fast
  • D. to show time passing slowly while Rosa waits

Use transitions

Use transitional words and phrases to show the order of events.

6.
Sort the transitions. Does each one show that something happens at the same time, or that something happens later?
after a whilemeanwhilethe next weekat the same momentwhilelater that day
At the same timeLater
7.
Rosa tells her friend about the repair. Write a transition from the word bank in each blank. Use each transition once. Two words will not be used.
Word bank: While · Finally · Because · First · Unless · Next

 , we shut off the water under the sink.  , we plugged the drain so no parts could fall in.   we took the faucet apart, Nico lined up the screws.  , after the new ring was in, we turned the water back on.

8.
Rosa wants to add a sentence about something that happened the day after the repair. Which transition should begin that sentence?
  • A. Meanwhile,
  • B. At first,
  • C. The following morning,
  • D. A moment earlier,
9.
Write 4 or 5 sentences about a time you helped fix, clean or build something at home. Use at least three different transitional words or phrases to show the order of events.

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