Story Sequencing — 4 Steps
Put 4 story pictures in the correct order.
Drop here
Drop here
Drop here
Drop here
0/4 sorted
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
Have the child order the pictures before saying anything, then narrate the sequence. Sorting and telling are separate skills, and doing them together hides which one is difficult. Once the order is right, ask for the connectives — first, next, then, last — which is the language half of the task and the part a classroom will ask for. Twelve minutes covers both sequences with narration.
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
Two four-step sequences to order: woke up, ate breakfast, went to school, came home; and got dressed, caught the bus, had lunch, played outside. Both are routines the child lives every day, which is deliberate — the ordering is the task, and using unfamiliar content would make it a memory test instead.
What to listen for
Watch whether errors are at the ends or the middle. Children usually get the first and last right and misplace the two in the middle, which is a working memory pattern rather than a comprehension one. Notice whether the child can explain why an order is wrong — because you can't go to school before you get dressed is reasoning, and it is what makes the skill transfer.
Carrying it home
Any routine is a four-step sequence: getting ready for bed, making toast, feeding a pet. Asking the child to tell you the steps before doing it takes thirty seconds and needs no materials.
What's in this activity
- 1st
- 2nd
- 3rd
- 4th
Questions
- What grades is this for?
- First through fourth, for early sequencing and narrative work.
- Is it free?
- Yes, both sequences play with no account and no card.
- Why use familiar routines?
- Because the ordering is the target. Unfamiliar content turns the task into a memory test, and a child can fail it while understanding sequence perfectly well.
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.