Following 3-Step Directions
Three-step directions for advanced comprehension.
Session summary (SOAP)
Stays on this screen. Nothing is saved or sent.
Mark a card Correct, Correct with cue or Incorrect and the summary writes itself here.
How to run it
Say it once, at a normal pace. Slowing down is a legitimate support and it changes what you are measuring, so decide which you are doing. If three steps break down consistently, look at whether the elements within each step can be reduced before dropping to two steps — give me the blue crayon, take the green one, and draw a line has three steps and seven pieces of information. Ten minutes covers the twelve.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentPresent the item and wait 5 seconds of quiet before helping.Log as correct
- RepeatRepeat the direction once, at the same speed, stressing the key words.Log as cued
- Chunk itBreak the direction into its steps and give them one at a time.Log as cued
- ModelShow the steps yourself, then the student does them.Log as cued
Adjust it
Give one step at a time, with a picture or a written list for each step.
Add a step, or a concept word such as 'before', 'after' or 'except'.
Matching IEP goal
Given spoken or written directions, Student will complete every step of the direction in order in 8 of 10 opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions, given no more than one repetition.
Send it home through the parent portal →About this activity
Twelve three-step directions: stand up, turn around, and sit back down; pick up the pencil, draw a circle, and give me the pencil; open the book, find page four, and point to the picture; take three cards, put two back, and hand me the last one. That final one is the hardest on the board, because the steps interact rather than simply following each other.
What to listen for
Watch the middle step, which is the one most often lost at this length. Notice whether the student rehearses under their breath — subvocal repetition is a strategy worth teaching explicitly to a student who has not found it. The card direction is the diagnostic one: a student who can do the sequential directions and fails on that has a working memory limit rather than a language one.
Carrying it home
Morning routines are three-step directions already. Saying all three at once — shoes on, bag by the door, coat from the hook — rather than one at a time is a small change with real practice value.
What's in this activity
- Stand up, turn around, and sit back down.
- Pick up the pencil, draw a circle, and give me the pencil.
- Touch your nose, clap twice, and say your name.
- Open the book, find page 4, and point to the picture.
- Take the red block, put it under the chair, and clap.
- Walk to the door, touch it, and come back.
- Give me the blue crayon, take the green one, and draw a line.
- Put your book in your desk, push in your chair, and line up.
- Point to the clock, count to five, and sit down.
- Draw a square, color it, and write your name on it.
- Take three cards, put two back, and hand me the last one.
- Stand behind your chair, hop twice, and sit down.
Questions
- What grades is this for?
- Second through fifth, once two-step directions are reliable.
- Is it free?
- Yes, all twelve directions play with no login.
- Is failing at three steps a language problem or a memory one?
- Often both, and the way to tell is to reduce the information within each step while keeping three steps. If that helps, it is load; if three steps fail regardless of how simple each one is, it is sequencing.
Use this board with your caseload
With a free account, every correct, cued and incorrect mark is saved to the student and scored against their IEP goal, with the data written up for you. Assign it as home practice through the parent portal.
Track progress freeFree for SLPs. No card, no trial clock.