Browse lesson plans

Action chains

Students learn to elaborate on an event in a narrative by expanding their sentences into action chains. Expanding single actions into an action chain provides the reader with a more detailed picture of an event in a narrative.

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

By DPI Writing Strategies.

Chronology: The time of my life

In Intrigue of the Past, page 1.6

In their study of chronology the students will use personal timelines and an activity sheet to demonstrate the importance of intact information to achieve accuracy, and compare and contrast their timelines with the chronological information contained in a stratified archaeological site.

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

Composing snowman stories

Students will compose sequential, descriptive instructions about how to build a snowman.

Format: lesson plan (grade 1–2 English Language Arts)

By Sandra Weavil.

Fairy tales

This lesson will begin a unit on fairy tales for young learners. It will begin with assessing what first graders know about fairy tales. Children will learn about the original version of The Three Little Pigs.

Format: lesson plan (grade 1 English Language Arts and English Language Development)

By Audra Penrod and Vivian Lages.

Getting in order: "Jack and the Beanstalk"

The students will read "Jack and the Beanstalk" as a group and create flip books to illustrate and sequence the main events.

Format: lesson plan (grade K–1 English Language Arts)

By Leslie Robinson1.

Identifying sequence with Little Jack Horner

In Mother Goose in use: Rhymes that teach, page 8

In this kindergarten lesson plan, students gain experience identifying the sequence of events in a story using the nursery rhyme "Little Jack Horner."

Format: lesson plan (grade K English Language Arts)

By Lisa Wright.

Inching through oral language for ESOL students

This lesson will use the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle to help the student use clear and precise language to demonstrate comprehension.

Format: lesson plan (grade K English Language Arts)

By Angela Goldberg.

Itsy, bitsy spider

The learner will use the words of the fingerplay "The Itsy, Bitsy Spider" to create a book.

Format: lesson plan (grade K English Language Arts)

By JanetD White.

Splitting bears

Students will learn sequencing (beginning, middle, end) by using a bear pattern.

Format: lesson plan (grade 2 English Language Arts and Information Skills)

By Kendra Sisk.

The very hungry teacher

After reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle students will use the writing process to write their own version of a Very Hungry story. They will use a flow map for pre-writing. Students will write a rough draft that will be revised and edited with a partner and a teacher.

Format: lesson plan (grade 1 English Language Arts)

By Kelly Zumwalt.

Welcome to my world!: Developing a personal narrative timeline

Students will create digital, narrative, and drawn versions of a timeline of at least five events of their life.

Format: lesson plan (grade 2–3 English Language Arts)

By DPI Integration Strategies.

Where do I begin?

Picking a good beginning helps you to focus your story on just one main event. In this lesson students will learn how to pick a good beginning for their personal narratives.

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts)

By DPI Writing Strategies.

Writing with Koala Lou: Sequencing and BME

After reading the story Koala Lou aloud, students practice sequencing the events of the story and identifying the beginning, middle, and end. Upon completing this activity in cooperative groups they write using a teacher given prompt, including proper sequence and beginning, middle, and end. They also share the final product with their cooperative group.

Format: lesson plan (grade 2–3 English Language Arts)

By Jenifer Lewis.

Resources on the web

Collaborating on a class book: Exploring before-during-after sequences

In this ReadWriteThink classroom project, students and the teacher produce a class book through a group-writing activity focusing on a basic before-during-after sequence of events. In this case, the book focuses on the carving of the class jack-o-lantern,... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade K–2 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Sequencing: A strategy to succeed at reading comprehension

In this lesson from ReadWriteThink, students gain a deeper understanding of a story by exploring its sequence. Students develop verbal and visual representations of events from the story of the U.S. folklore character Paul Bunyan. They work together to... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Teaching about story structure using fairy tales

The teacher guides students through read-alouds of fairy tales in this unit that introduces the concept of the beginning, middle and end of stories. After students use storyboards to identify common plot sequences in fairy tales, they work in groups to... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 2 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink