  Aims. We present a spectroscopic study of the properties of 64 Balmer break
galaxies that show signs of star formation. The studied sample of star-forming
galaxies spans a redshift range from 0.094 to 1.475 with stellar masses in the
range 10$^{8}-$10$^{12}$ $M_{\odot}$. The sample also includes eight broad
emission line galaxies with redshifts between 1.5 $<z<$ 3.0.
  Methods. We derived star formation rates (SFRs) from emission line
luminosities and investigated the dependence of the SFR and specific SFR (SSFR)
on the stellar mass and color. Furthermore, we investigated the evolution of
these relations with the redshift.
  Results. We found that the SFR correlates with the stellar mass, our data is
consistent with previous results from other authors in that there is a break in
the correlation, which reveals the presence of massive galaxies with lower SFR
values (i.e., decreasing star formation). We also note an anticorrelation for
the SSFR with the stellar mass. Again in this case, our data is also consistent
with a break in the correlation, revealing the presence of massive star-forming
galaxies with lower SSFR values, thereby increasing the anticorrelation. These
results might suggest a characteristic mass ($M_{0}$) at which the red sequence
could mostly be assembled. In addition, at a given stellar mass, high-redshift
galaxies have on average higher SFR and SSFR values than local galaxies.
Finally, we explored whether a similar trend could be observed with redshift in
the SSFR$-(u-B)$ color diagram, and we hypothesize that a possible $(u-B)_{0}$
break color may define a characteristic color for the formation of the red
sequence.
