EL Support Lesson
All About Sequencing
Objectives
Academic
Students will be able to retell stories by sequencing text and images.
Language
I can retell a story with transition words using sentence frames.
Introduction
(3 minutes)
- Access students' prior knowledge by displaying a familiar picture book and asking students to remind you what the story is about.
- Explain that they just helped you "retell" the story, this means they reminded you of what happened in the story in the correct order.
- Point to the familiar book. Remind students that the words in a book are written by a person called the author and that the pictures are made by a person called the illustrator. Point out the author and illustrator in the familiar picture book.
- Tell students that today you will be paying attention to how the words and pictures tell a story from the beginning to the end, or in order.
Building academic language
Word
(5 minutes)- Display visuals or draw images of three regular school day activities such as morning circle, lunch, and dismissal.
- Write the words, "First we ____." on the board for students to reference.
- Have students turn and talk to a partner to answer the question, "Which activity do we do first?"
- Invite one or two pairs to share their thinking with the class. Have them turn and talk to answer the questions:
- Which activity do we do next?
- Which activity do we do last?
- Explain that the students just put the three activities in order. Say, "We don't get to school and eat lunch right away! That would be so silly. First we, ____. Then we, ____. Finally, we ____."
- Explain that just like during the day, when we read a story, it happens in order.
Sentence
(8 minutes)- Write the word "sequence" on the board and read the word aloud.
- Tell the class that sequence is another way to say "order" and that you will be practicing sequencing pictures to put them in the right order. Write the word "order" next to sequence.
- Display the three images from Put Things in Order worksheet
- Ask students to identify what is in each of the images.
- Ask the class if they know which image should go first.
- Have students turn and talk to share their ideas. Provide them with a pre-written sentence frame, "I think the ____ goes first because ____." to use as a verbal support or to complete in writing.
- Have a few pairs share their ideas with the class.
- Review that when things are put in the right order, it is called a "sequence."
- Have the class help you put all three images in the correct order by assigning three corners of the room "beginning", "middle", and "ending."
- Hold up an image and ask students to move to the corner where they think the image belongs.
- Repeat this activity for all three images.
- As students move to different corners, check to see who is confident in their choice and who is unsure.
- Check which students are choosing the correct corners.
Discourse
(10 minutes)- Explain that you will be reading aloud a story and that after you finish, the students will help you retell the story in order.
- Read aloud the story, Goldilocks and the Three Bears while projecting the story to the class.
- As you read, ask students to pay careful attention to the illustrations, or pictures in the story to remind them of what is happening.
- After you finish reading, ask the students to think about the sequence of the story and what happens first.
- Provide them with a pre-written sentence stem, "In the beginning of the story ____." Have students complete this in writing (using invented spelling as they are able).
- Ask students to share out their ideas using the sentence stem with the class.
- Go back to the beginning of the story and check student understanding.
Additional EL adaptations
BEGINNING
- Provide students with their own copy of Goldilocks and the Three Bears to use during the class read aloud.
ADVANCED
- Have students practice sequencing the story using both words and pictures.
Formative Assessment of Academic Language
(5 minutes)- Pass out the Sequence It: Goldilocks and the Three Bears worksheet to the students.
- Have students complete the worksheet independently to put the story in the correct sequence.
- Observe students at work to determine if students are able to order the story.
Review and closing
(4 minutes)- Ask students to give a thumbs up if they know what the word "sequence" means.
- Ask students to think about what it means to "sequence a story." Then, have them pair up with another student and share their thinking.
- Invite a few pairs to share their thinking with the group.
- Pass out pre-written exit tickets that say, "A sequence is when a story is in ____." and have students complete it using words or drawings.
- Close by saying, "When we put the events of a story in the right order, we are sequencing the story. Sometimes we use the illustrations and sometimes we use the words to help us."
Related learning resources
Sequence It: Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Worksheet
Sequence It: Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Have students practice their sequencing skills as they put the story in the correct order.
Kindergarten
Worksheet
Glossary: All About Sequencing
Worksheet
Glossary: All About Sequencing
Use this glossary with the EL Support Lesson: All About Sequencing.
Kindergarten
Reading & Writing
Worksheet
Vocabulary Cards: All About Sequencing
Worksheet
Vocabulary Cards: All About Sequencing
Use these vocabulary cards with the EL Support Lesson: All About Sequencing.
Kindergarten
Reading & Writing
Worksheet
All About Sequencing
Lesson plan
All About Sequencing
In this exciting mini lesson, students will have a great time as they learn all about story sequencing and practice retelling a story!
Kindergarten
Reading & Writing
Lesson plan
