‘Should I pack my bag first or fill the water bottle?‘
Such a question might sound ordinary to you but plays a crucial role in everyday life for little learners. With every question that decides what to do and when to do it, children indirectly form habits. Even the little actions or ways to do a task matters as it shapes the overall functioning of the day.
Children can often get confused with tasks when there are too many in hand or they are clueless about what comes first. It is very common for kids to feel this way as they are still processing the information around them and developing their ways. For example, kids might get perplexed if homework is the first thing to do or play with the new toy; whether it is washing their face or cleaning teeth. Such minute tasks of everyday life only bring to us the importance of sequencing and arranging tasks in proper order.
You probably cannot force little learners to simply do something because that’s how it is meant to be. These creative little mindsets should be allowed to question the routine which helps them explore the crux of sequencing. In such a case, a sequencing lesson plan acts as a subtle way of deploying the skill in little learners. We have designed a creative and descriptive lesson plan that focuses on sequencing thereby allowing you to teach them in a fun way.
Lesson Plan
The sequencing lesson plan is thoughtfully designed to make little learners understand the basics of sequencing. While they may get confused in arranging or prioritizing tasks, this lesson plan acts as a way to help them develop these skills with ease.
The sequencing lesson plan is curated to fulfill the following objectives thereby ensuring a smooth learning process.
- Through the lesson plan, kids develop capabilities to arrange everyday events in the right order with ease.
- It also offers an opportunity to understand the sequence or story and arrange it in the correct format.
The lesson plan needs basic materials which are readily available. They are listed below.
- Stationary
- Story cards
The lesson plans begin with a creative activity to check the emotions of little learners at the beginning. The activity shows 4 different emoticons that represent feelings of joy, sadness, frustration, or boredom. All you need to do is ask students how they are feeling and note it. You may also ask them to draw basic emoticons to help them express their feelings via drawing.
Activity 1: The Morning Routine
Understanding the morning routine is important for little learners. It shapes their living and discipline for the future. This activity consists of various picture cards that represent the morning activities like brushing and bathing. You can either cut them or simply ask students to number them in the correct order.
Activity 2: The Afternoon Routine
Kids are always doing something and they might not know the correct order to do their tasks. Given that, in this activity, children need to arrange the picture cards as per the sequence. You may also ask them to number the cards from their first task to the last task during the afternoon.
Activity 3: Hare and the Tortoise
This activity focuses on sequencing the events of a story. For the same, an engaging and the most popular story of the hare and tortoise is given. Narrate the story to students and indulge them in an active listening session. After this, picture cards are given below that represent the story. Ask the children to arrange the picture cards as per the correct sequence of the story. The activity can either be done individually or in groups.
Activity 4: The Elephant and the Ant
Similar to the previous activity, another interesting story is given to equip kids with sequencing skills. Narrate the story to students and ask them to listen carefully. Now, you can either distribute the picture cards to each one or in groups. Ask the children to arrange the picture cards as per the sequence of the story. You can also number the cards if you want to avoid cutting them.
After conducting these sequencing activities, get back to the very first activity where students share their feelings. Again ask them to either draw or describe how they feel after the activity. This step helps teachers and parents understand if children have retained knowledge and learned thoroughly. It also helps you analyze if further assistance is needed for teaching the concept.
Other interesting ways to teach sequencing to little learners
While lesson plans are a helpful way to teach sequencing, kids lose their focus easily. However, you can keep them engaged in the learning process by supplementing the lesson with engaging and interactive ways and techniques. The below-mentioned ways enhance the learning experience and also offer diversification in the process.
1. Online Games
Technology is continuously developing ways and you can use it for your benefit with various online sequencing events games available for teaching the concept of sequencing and ordering. These online games are filled with engaging graphics and sounds that help retain the attention of learners. Moreover, many sequencing games help kids with active listening and memory-building skills as well. After a long learning time, you can use these games as a recreational way of teaching the concept.
2. Applications
Just like online games, online applications are also used to enhance sequencing skills. These apps are free to use and help children learn the importance of arranging tasks in a fun manner. As apps are all about eye-catching visuals, sound, and animation, children are more likely to be attracted to playing with them. Such apps also help build a daily habit of practicing sequencing and learning from it.
3. Story Books
Story books are a collection of so many emotions and incidents in a creative way. In this ever-developing age of learning, storybooks can effectively play their role in cultivating the sequencing skills in little learners. From picture books to descriptive books with texts, a plethora of books are available to teach the arrangement of elements, sorting everyday activities, recognizing patterns, and building memory. It also strengthens their visual skills by allowing them to imagine the next step/sequence simply through pictures.
Conclusion
Lesson plans stimulate learning as they are designed with creative graphics and subtle color schemes. The descriptive text yet minimalistic design engage little learners effectively. Sequencing lesson plan ensures the utilization of imagination and pattern recognition capabilities of kids to successfully complete the activities. While children learn about sequencing, pattern recognition, and sorting everyday tasks, it is important to keep reminding them of the knowledge and apply it in real life.
An engineer, Maths expert, Online Tutor and animal rights activist. In more than 5+ years of my online teaching experience, I closely worked with many students struggling with dyscalculia and dyslexia. With the years passing, I learned that not much effort being put into the awareness of this learning disorder. Students with dyscalculia often misunderstood for having just a simple math fear. This is still an underresearched and understudied subject. I am also the founder of Smartynote -‘The notepad app for dyslexia’,