What are Time Order Words?

Words that show the order of events are called time-order words. They help us understand the order in which things happened, from the beginning to the end.

Using time-order words can be very helpful for young writers in improving their writing skills. It helps them to structure their writing in a clear and organized way. By using time-order words, young writers can describe events in a logical sequence, making it easier for readers to follow their ideas and understand the sequence of the story. For instance, when writing a story, young writers can use words like “first,” “next,” “then,” “after,” and “finally” to organize their ideas and events. This helps to ensure that the story is coherent and flows smoothly from one event to the next. These words are beneficial to students, not only in writing, but across other subject areas as well.

Paired with the right resources, this word wall will provide a definite boost to your students’ vocabularies. These word wall cards pair perfectly with your narrative writing unit and these downloadable resources!

teaching resource

Narrative Plot Structure - Story Mountain Template

Use a story mountain template to help your students write narrative stories.

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Daily Writing Prompts Calendars - Upper Grades

Inspire your students and encourage them to write regularly with a set of printable Daily Writing Prompts in calendar format!

Using time-order words also helps young writers to develop their vocabulary and language skills. They learn to use transitional words and phrases, which can make their writing more sophisticated and interesting to read.

Download and Print Your Time Transition Words

Print out and display these time-order transition word wall cards in your classroom. This resource download consists of 35 different time-order transition words and phrases. Use the download button to select the editable Google Slides file or the print-and-go PDF download.

Time Order Word List

first of all, firstly, to start with, to begin with, initially, soon, then, next, before long, afterwards, after a while, a while later, as time passed, following that, later on, suddenly, eventually, in due course, meanwhile, last of all, lastly, to conclude, in the end, finally.