Following Multi-Step Classroom Directions: Grades 3-5

Longer directions with embedded order, exceptions and conditions.

Use with a student — free
Page 1 of 16
'Write your name at the top, skip a line, then copy the first three sentences.' What comes SECOND?
Say it out loud
This pass0 correct · 0 cued · 0 incorrect · 0/16
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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

Do not let the student act it out. The whole design is that they answer a question about the direction, which requires holding the sequence in mind rather than executing it, and it is closer to what a written instruction demands. The odd-numbered item is the one worth extra time, since it needs both the vocabulary and the arithmetic. Twelve minutes covers the sixteen.

Cueing ladder

Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.

  1. Step 1IndependentPresent the item and wait 5 seconds of quiet before helping.Log as correct
  2. Step 2RepeatRepeat the direction once, at the same speed, stressing the key words.Log as cued
  3. Step 3Chunk itBreak the direction into its steps and give them one at a time.Log as cued
  4. Step 4ModelShow the steps yourself, then the student does them.Log as cued

Adjust it

Easier

Give one step at a time, with a picture or a written list for each step.

Harder

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

Sixteen questions about classroom directions, asked rather than performed: write your name at the top, skip a line, then copy the first three sentences — what comes second; do the odd-numbered problems only — which problems do you do; put your paper in the blue tray, not the red one — where does it go. Asking about a direction rather than following it isolates the comprehension from the doing.

What to listen for

Watch the order words. Questions asking what comes second or what you do first are answered incorrectly by students who understood the whole direction, because before and after reverse the order of mention. Notice the not exception — the blue tray, not the red one — which students consistently answer with the negated item, since it was the last thing they heard.

Carrying it home

Reading an instruction aloud and asking what comes first, rather than watching the child do it, is a thirty-second check that reveals more than watching does.

What's in this activity

  • 'Write your name at the top, skip a line, then copy the first three sentences.' What comes SECOND?
    • Copy the sentences
    • Skip a line
    • Write your name
    • Hand it in
  • 'Do the odd-numbered problems only, and show your work.' Which problems do you do?
    • All of them
    • 2, 4, 6, 8
    • Only the last one
    • 1, 3, 5, 7
  • 'Read the page before you answer the questions.' What do you do FIRST?
    • Answer the questions
    • Ask a partner
    • Read the page
    • Turn it in
  • 'Put your paper in the blue tray, not the red one.' Where does it go?
    • The red tray
    • The teacher's desk
    • The blue tray
    • Your folder
  • 'After you finish, get a book and read silently until the bell.' What do you do when you finish?
    • Talk to a partner
    • Line up at the door
    • Get a book and read
    • Start the next page
  • 'Everyone except table three should line up.' Who stays seated?
    • Table one
    • Table three
    • Everyone
    • Nobody
  • 'Highlight the topic sentence, then underline two details.' How many things do you UNDERLINE?
    • None
    • One
    • Two
    • Three
  • 'Turn in the permission slip by Friday and bring a jacket on Monday.' What is due Friday?
    • A jacket
    • Nothing
    • Both
    • The permission slip

Questions

What grades is this for?
Third through fifth, matched to classroom directions at that level.
Is it free?
Yes, all sixteen items play with no account.
How is this different from the three-step directions board?
That one asks the student to perform the direction. This asks them to answer a question about it, which removes the doing and tests comprehension of order and exception words directly.

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 free

Free for SLPs. No card, no trial clock.