What it is. Because gives a reason, but turns the idea, so gives the result.
Why our test works. Children pick whichever joining word they used last. Naming the three JOBS — reason, turn, result — makes the choice about meaning rather than habit, and it is the first step toward the argument writing that comes in the upper grades.
Leans on. Grade 2 lessons 8 and 19.
Watch for. Swap the word and read it aloud. If the meaning does not change, the word was not doing its job.
Practice one sentence move: because / but / so. The worked example is the one you build on the board: Teacher writes a plain sentence, then makes the move once, saying what changed and why the The class reads the teaching page printed at the top of the sheet — our own writing, so a child who was absent can still get the lesson.
You open by saying where this sits — what it follows and what it is part of — in one sentence, and then you give them the reason it matters, in your own words, for about ten seconds. Before anything new, sixty seconds of retrieval on U1 set 3, U3 set 1: ask, take the answers from boards rather than hands so you see all thirty, and do not re-teach — note who has lost it and carry on.
Then you do one yourself, building it on the board and leaving it up: Teacher writes a plain sentence, then makes the move once, saying what changed and why the new version is better. For example: “The soil was dry.” becomes “The soil was dry, so we watered it.”. Both stay on the board. The board copy is what they look back at when they stall, so it stays there for the whole lesson.
The We-do is the main whiteboard moment of the lesson — short answers, boards up on your signal, every child visible at once. Class makes the same move on two sentences together, saying the change aloud before writing it. If the answer is a whole sentence rather than a word, take it on the printed sheet instead, because a sentence written on a whiteboard is written once and destroyed.
They read the teaching page — printed at the top of today's sheet — with you, either read-aloud or FASE, never round robin. Stop at the worked example and let them look at it.
Exit directions in full, standing still, before anyone moves. Then they work alone: On the worksheet: make this move on four sentences, double-spaced.
You close on the exit direction — Read one sentence before and after the move. — taken from every child before anyone stands, and then the line you want them to still have tomorrow: Because, but, so — three different jobs.
Swap the word and read it aloud. If the meaning does not change, the word was not doing its job.