You can practice sequencing with your fifth graders by reading aloud an age-appropriate story such as "Paul Bunyan." When you are done, ask each student to write one event from the story on the chalkboard. When the list is complete, have each student pick an event to write about and illustrate on a piece of paper. Then divide your students into "beginning," "middle," and "end" groups and ask them to put their events in order.
You can have your fifth graders practice sequencing through independent reading. Have your students choose a story or book to read and ask them to write down the events as they read. When reading time is over, pair them up and ask them to retell the events of their story in order. You can also ask them to retell the story to their parents as a homework assignment.
Another way to practice sequencing is to ask students written multiple-choice questions or give a quiz. Begin by asking students to reach a short passage that describes an event. Then give the students written questions that ask about the sequence, but not in the order it occurred. The students should be able to use words such as "first," next" and "finally" to determine the sequence order.
In addition to fictional stories, you can practice sequencing with your students with nonfiction texts such as news articles, short biographies, historical events and scientific articles. You can download blank worksheets from havefunteaching.com that have places where students can fill in the beginning, middle and end events. Start by having your students read the text you select and then ask them to fill out the event sequence on the blank worksheet.