Nurturing Language Skills: The Art of Story Sequencing

 

Introducing children to the vital concept of sequencing events in a story forms a foundational pillar in advancing their language skills and sparking their creativity. As a parent and educator, I embarked on this  journey to teach my son, Madhav, the art of sequencing, and through various engaging techniques, I witnessed his storytelling abilities flourish.

 

What is Sequencing and Why it is Needed?

Sequencing, at its core, involves arranging events or ideas in a logical progression. We sequence events to facilitate a seamless comprehension of the story for the listener or reader. Grasping the order of events assists children in organizing their thoughts and expressing their ideas more effectively. Introducing sequencing at an early age, we empower our children to develop strong narrative abilities and express their creativity through storytelling.

To aid Madhav in understanding the concept of sequencing, I began with a daily routine example – brushing his teeth. Our initial discussion focused on the importance of oral hygiene and then transitioned to the series of steps involved in brushing, such as:

• Wetting the toothbrush
• Applying toothpaste
• Brushing teeth using up-down and circular motions
• Rinsing the mouth
• Spitting out the water
• Cleaning the toothbrush and storing it properly

We deliberated on why each of these steps was essential for effective teeth cleaning, and how the order matters. For instance, brushing without applying toothpaste would be ineffective, emphasizing why step 2 must follow step 1. This exercise demonstrated the need for logical progression in tasks. I broke down sequencing to its simplest form for Madhav as 'putting things in an order' and emphasized that sequencing is a strategic way of doing things.

Exploring RAZ Books 

With a clear understanding of sequencing, we turned to RAZ level aa books to master the skill. Our first choice was the simplest book titled 'One Insect,' a light read about a boy drawing an insect in sequence. The words were a mix of high-frequency words (sight words) and phonetic words, pre-taught to Madhav for easy reading.

As we delved into the book, we examined how each sentence and its corresponding picture aligned with each other, and how an insect was drawn in a step-by-step sequence. Probing questions like, 'What do you think the boy will draw next?' and 'If he has drawn one leg, how many legs will he draw next?' tested his understanding of the story's progression.

Madhav read the story multiple times for word familiarity and decoding practice. A cut-and-paste activity followed, where he arranged picture cards in order based on the story's events, providing him a fun way to refine his sequencing and motor skills.

Retelling Stories 

The next logical step after practicing sequencing was retelling the story using sentence starters such as 'First, Then, Next, and Last.' Retelling a story is paramount in mastering sequencing as it reinforces a child's understanding of a narrative's order. It challenges children to recall and articulate the beginning, middle, and end of a story, ensuring that events are presented logically.

We further honed this skill through repetition in the following weeks, using different level aa stories as practice material. Sharing some snippets here.

Integrating Language with Other Subject Areas 

Language learning becomes captivating when it intersects with other subjects like Science, Math, and Art. Interdisciplinary learning renders the process more holistic than fragmented. A couple of examples are shared below where we extended our learning  to other subject areas:

• Level aa Jump Over: A book about animals jumping over things. We built a pictograph, counting the number of different animals – a delightful Math connection.
  
  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Level aa On an Airplane: The book depicted a girl's airplane journey. We connected it to Life – reminiscing about our own airplane trip to Bangalore, and Science – contrasting an airplane with a car. Lastly, Madhav's creative expression through art, a security door at the airport drawing, showed an Art connection.
  
  
  
  
  

A noteworthy point here is to prioritize children's expression of ideas over perfect spelling and sentence structure. Articulation is essential, and accuracy in spelling and sentence structuring evolves over time.

We have been continuously practicing this skill for the past 2-3 weeks now and it only gets better. Not only does sequencing aid in the comprehension of stories, but it also ignites creativity in children, empowering them to narrate stories with enhanced confidence. It opens a world of interdisciplinary learning, connecting language to other subject areas and providing children with a holistic learning experience. Thus, as educators and parents, our task is to guide our children along this path, encouraging their curiosity and creativity, fostering their language skills, and paving the way for their academic success and beyond.

References

Books and activities we used to practice sequencing:

RAZ Level aa

• One Insect
• Over
• Jump Over
• We build
• Plant
• On Air plane