Put It in Order: Planting a Seed
Five steps for planting a seed, dealt out of order for the student to put in sequence and retell.
Tap two cards to swap them
How to run it
Read every step aloud before the student starts moving them. Ask what has to happen first, and why you cannot water the soil before the seed is in. Once the order is checked, have the student retell the whole sequence without looking, using first, next, then and last. If they get stuck, give the first word of the step, not the whole step.
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
- Question promptAsk a story-grammar question: who, where, what was the problem, what happened next?Log as cued
- Two choicesOffer two possible next parts of the story and let the student pick and say it.Log as cued
- ModelTell that part yourself; the student tells it back in their own words.Log as cued
Adjust it
Use fewer parts, and keep a first-next-last visual on the table.
Ask for the retell without the pictures, with a feeling or a reason added to each part.
Matching IEP goal
Given a picture or story prompt, Student will put events in order and retell them using first, next, then and last in 4 of 5 opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions, given no more than one question prompt.
Send it home through the parent portal →About this activity
Five steps for planting a seed, from dig a small hole and drop the seed in the hole to cover the seed with soil, water the soil, and wait for a sprout to grow. The steps arrive mixed up and the student puts them in order. Planting follows a real cause-and-effect chain, so there is a reason each step comes where it does, and that reason is what a student learns to explain.
What to listen for
Notice whether the student orders by logic or by guessing and checking. A student who puts water the soil first may not be picturing the task. Listen to the retell: do they use sequence words, and do they keep all five steps or collapse them into two? The middle steps, dropping the seed and covering it, are the ones most often swapped.
Carrying it home
Plant something real, even a bean in a cup. Before each step, ask what comes next, and afterwards have the child tell someone else how they did it. Do the same with any routine that has steps, such as making a sandwich or getting ready for bed. Ask for first, next and last in the retelling.
What's in this activity
- Dig a small hole,Drop the seed in the hole,Cover the seed with soil,Water the soil,Wait for a sprout to grow
Questions
- Who is this for?
- Kindergarten through second grade students working on sequencing and retelling a short procedure with sequence words.
- Is it free?
- Yes. It plays free in the browser with no login. An account adds session data, goal scoring and assignment to a student.
- Can I write my own sequence?
- Yes. In the Activity Studio, type the steps in the right order and choose Rank Order. The board shuffles them for the student.