If you ask me what I enjoy teaching the most, I’d have to say writing. Writing! Writing! Writing!
At the beginning of each year, I start out simple. I start with teaching students how to write a sequence of events. It’s one of the easier concepts for students to grasp, and it’s a great way to to incorporate shared writing in the classroom.
Like I mentioned, I begin the year teaching a sequence of events. I like to use shared writing to write about the first day of school or just any day at school. It’s something we all know about and we all know the order of our day.
I like to use pictures because kids get ideas from them. Pictures give kids a visual.
I begin by having my students help me put some pictures in order. I glue them to chart paper and tell the students that we are going to tell about our day in order. We will be giving a sequence of events.
I have them look at the first picture and decide what it is showing. Then I ask them to think of a sentence. I ask them to begin their sentences with the word we because we are pretending we are the kids in the pictures.
After they think, I have the kids share their sentences with a buddy. I randomly select a few kids to share their sentences. I praise each child for some fabulous sentences and write one of their sentences or a combination of all of them by the picture.
Once we’re finished, we practice reading our very short narrative together. We discuss why we put it in order and discuss the term sequence of events.
Now I let them practice on their own. This worksheet is similar to the shared writing, so the students will feel excited about writing something they know and understand.
Because I am teaching the term sequence of event, I don’t expect a real elaborate narrative. I just want them to write a story in order. As we continue throughout the year, I’ll expect more because we will have learned more writing skills and strategies.
I hope this helps you to get started! Here are the resources for this lesson.
If you would like the complete unit, find it here.