This activity works well in a primary classroom. Read a picture book aloud to the students. Pause periodically, asking volunteers to retell what was just read. Ask students what they think will happen next. When the story is finished, ask the students to restate the parts of the story in order. Write the main points on magnetic sentence strips. Together with the students, rearrange them until you all agree they’re in the correct order.
Divide the students into groups and assign each group a different picture story to read together. When the children have finished reading and discussing the stories, they create coordinating puppets from socks or paper bags. They present puppet shows to their classmates. Display the words “beginning,” “middle” and “end” in a prominent place as a reminder to the students.
Parents can encourage story sequencing at home. After reading a picture book to your child, photocopy the main pictures. Ask your daughter to put the scenes in the correct order and tell the story in her own words. Remind her to think of what happened first, in the middle and at the end. Repeat the activity with this story and other picture books.
Distribute four large craft sticks to each child. Tell the children to write the name of their favorite picture book on one stick. Depending upon their ages, they should draw pictures or write words on the other three sticks to represent the beginning, middle and end of the story. Glue the four sticks into squares and display them in class.
This activity hones upper elementary students' sequencing skills. They work in groups, rewriting favorite picture books into play form. The students visit primary classrooms and perform their plays. Afterwards, they interact with the youngsters, asking them to retell the stories. Take pictures of the performances and glue them in sequence on poster board to display in the primary class.