LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Story Sequencing

This multi-faceted lesson teaches students how to sequence stories. It reinforces the following concepts: first, last, before, after, left, right. This lesson can also focus on carryover of articulation skills to answering questions as well as story telling.

A lesson plan for grade K English Language Arts

By Michele Christon

Learn more

Related pages

  • The Sneetches and teaching diversity: This lesson uses The Sneetches by Dr. Seuss as an introduction to diversity and tolerance. Its kinesthetic element makes it doubly appealing to students.

Related topics

Help

Please read our disclaimer for lesson plans.

Legal

The text of this page is copyright ©2008. See terms of use. Images and other media may be licensed separately; see captions for more information and read the fine print.

Learning outcomes

Students will:

  • properly sequence story from left to right.
  • explore specific vocabulary words needed to relate the story.
  • utiilize complete sentences to relate story. Sentences will include correct grammatical forms, pronouns, etc.
  • demonstrate carryover of articulation skills as he/she retells story.
  • answer questions relative to time concepts: first, last, before, after.
  • demonstrate strategies to assist him/her with recalling information.
  • demonstrate ability to predict a second outcome to the story.
  • use imagination to determine what might have happened before the story actually began.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

45 Minutes

Materials/resources

4 and 6 Scene Sequencing Cards
(Frank Schaffer Publications, Inc.)
Process can be adapted to any story

Technology resources

None

Pre-activities

Evaluate the language skills of your students: use of full sentences, varied verb tenses, personal pronouns, etc. If you have a student who is receiving articulation therapy, work with the speech pathologist to determine which sounds need to be reinforced in the classroom.

Sequence a story for the children, modeling the strategies you use to determine what happens first, second, etc.

Activities

  1. Examine each picture in the story and identify specific objects, actions, people. Use probing questions to elicit specific vocabulary. You may want to write the vocabulary on the blackboard.
  2. Your questioning patterns will elicit specific responses. Vary them to teach specific verb tenses. ex.
    • “What does he do next?”
    • “What is she ____?”
    • “What will they do after ___?”
    • “What did he do before ___?”

    Model complete sentences when appropriate. Similar techniques can be used to teach pronouns, if this is an area of concern.

  3. Have student find a picture that you describe. Then ask him what happened “before” or what will happen “after”.
    • Show me the picture “Before the boy ___, he ____.”
    • Show me the picture “After the father ____, the daughter ___.”
  4. Students should be using correct articulation at the word level before you stress carryover to sentences and storytelling.

    Have student identify words in the story that contain his/her target sound(s). Have student use these words in a complete sentence as he/she tells the story.

  5. After story is correctly sequenced, have student close his/her eyes. You remove one picture. Student identifies missing picture using a complete sentence. If student has difficulty, retell the story to the missing fact. This strategy should clue him/her to identify the missing picture (information).

    When the student is successful at this level, I remove two, then three pictures.

  6. After student has successfully sequenced and told the story, place a blank card at the end of the story. Explain to the student that he/she can make the story longer. “What do you think will happen next?” or “What will he do after ___?”

    Student can draw the picture after he/she gives an acceptable response.

    Model if necessary some appropriate responses.

  7. Similar activity to #6, but place the card at the beginning of the story.

Assessment

The student

  • demonstrates telling a story following a logical progression of facts.
  • uses grammatically correct sentences as he/she tells their story.
  • correctly answers questions relevant to concepts taught.

Supplemental information

None

Related websites

N/A

Comments

I have adapted this lesson plan for autistic children, children with fragile X and students in the mild mentally handicapped range of intelligence.

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

English Language Arts (2004)

Kindergarten

  • Goal 2: The learner will develop and apply strategies and skills to comprehend text that is read, heard, and viewed.
    • Objective 2.01: Demonstrate sense of story (e.g., beginning, middle, end, characters, details).
    • Objective 2.02: Demonstrate familiarity with a variety of types of books and selections (e.g., picture books, caption books, short informational texts, nursery rhymes, word plays/finger plays, puppet plays, reenactments of familiar stories).
    • Objective 2.03: Use preparation strategies to activate prior knowledge and experience before and during the reading of a text.
    • Objective 2.04: Formulate questions that a text might answer before beginning to read (e.g., what will happen in this story, who might this be, where do you think this happens).
    • Objective 2.05: Predict possible events in texts before and during reading.
    • Objective 2.06: Understand and follow oral-graphic directions.