Elementary Sequence Worksheets

Students order a wide variety of items based on alphabetic, numerical and logical order.



What Is the Sequence of a Story?


Learning how to identify the story sequence is a skill that kids develop as they develop their reading and comprehension skills. As kids grow and progress, they will be required to learn many things that can be overwhelming for them. Teaching kids story sequencing is a way to ensure that kids clearly understand and grasp what is being taught to them.


Incorporating reading into their daily routine is an effective way to teach narrative sequencing, which is an essential skill that allows students to make sense of what they are reading and sense how events unfold in a story. Sequencing is an essential component that improves students' problem-solving skills across various subjects.


If you're wondering why it is essential to teach sequencing and how it can be taught effectively to your students, you've come to the right place. Let's look at the sequence of a story and its importance in the learning process.

 

The Sequence of a Story: What Does It Mean?

This refers to identifying the components of a story – the beginning, the middle, and the ending. Identifying the sequence of a story allows you to retell the essential parts within a text in the same order in which they took place. Story sequencing proves to be an essential reading comprehension skill, especially in the case of narrative texts.


This also improves your ability to construct a cohesive and logical flow in your writing, improving your writing skills. Describing things in the order they took place makes it easy for the reader to grasp and follow the writing flow. Otherwise, a jumbled-up sequence is bound to read the reader confused.

 

Why is it Important to Teach Story Sequencing?

Stories are an essential element of the learning process for kids. As a teacher, you need to equip your students with the skill of story sequencing so that they can not only understand and remember the narrative but are also able to narrate it in the order it took place in.


This is an essential skill that students can apply outside of the classroom well and allows problem-solving across the curriculum, including math, science, social studies, etc.


For example, sequencing would be required when the students are required to perform a science experiment in a particular order while trying to understand a series of historical events in the order they took place and even while drafting a set of instructions.
Story sequencing also allows students to organize information, thoughts, and ideas effectively.

 

Tips on Teaching Students How to Do This

There are multiple ways in which you can help students identify the sequence of a narrative.
An effective way to do this is by integrating their learning through art and play to enrich their learning process and help students grasp this concept.
Let's look at some other methods of teaching story sequencing.

 

1. Looking Out for 'Signal Words'

One of the easiest and most common methods of teaching stories is identifying the transitions that connect different parts of the narrative and give them a sequence.
These words often indicate whether a particular event will be located at the story's start, middle, or end.

Let's take a look at some examples of these signal words:

- Beginning of the story – once upon an upon a time, firstly, first of all, first of all
- Middle of the Story – meanwhile, suddenly, after which, after that, then
- The ending of the story – in the end, therefore, after all, finally, hence

 

2. Using Timelines

Graphic organizers like timelines are ideal for teaching story sequencing. Timelines help display and organize the information in chronological order. Timelines can be vertical or horizontal and can even include pictures for better understanding. While reading a story in class, a pre-prepared timeline can be shown and referred to. This is an effective tool for story sequencing in fiction and non-fiction genres.

 

3. Using Story Sequencing Worksheets and Charts

You can download and print story sequencing worksheets to help students identify the sequence of a story. Worksheets are an effective tool for helping students get hands-on experience in what is being taught. A story sequencing chart, like timelines, is another form of graphic organizer that resembles the steps of a stairway.


Ask students to fill in each of these steps with the story's events in the same order in which they took place. This method of story sequencing would be a great way to discover more interesting and challenging series if it unravels more complex chronologies.


The completed charts will give an excellent visual representation of the event of the story in chronological order.

 

4. Reading a Simple Book

Select a simple storybook and read it out to your students. As you read, emphasize the beginning, the middle, and the ending.
Once you are done reading, ask your students to retell each part of the story. Then tell them to make three sections in their notebooks – the beginning, middle, and the ending and have them draw pictures of what happened in each part.

 

5. Teaching the Practical Application of Sequencing

Take a walk with your students around the school. For example, you could do the library and choose or book. In detail, discuss with your students the beginning, middle, and end of selecting a book from the library. Similarly, you can use similar demonstrations for ordering lunch from the cafeteria.


Finally, ask students to share their ideas and stories of things they do at home or school with a beginning, middle, and end. You can also have students draw images of events in the order they take place to boost creativity in learning.

 

Concluding Thoughts

In conclusion, learning how to identify a story's sequence is an essential reading comprehension skill that will help your students understand and grasp the essence of the story and help them narrate the story in the exact sequence in which the events took place.


Make reading and story sequencing a part of your daily teaching plans to help students understand the concept better. Happy Teaching!