Story Sequencing — 6 Steps
Put 6 story pictures in the correct order.
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How to run it
Order first, narrate second. When a step is misplaced, ask what has to happen before it rather than correcting the position — you cannot catch the bus before packing the bag is the reasoning, and it is what makes the ordering transfer to a sequence the child has not seen. Ask for connectives on the retell, and expect first and last to arrive before the middle ones. Fifteen minutes covers the sequence 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
A six-step morning routine to put in order: woke up, brushed teeth, ate breakfast, packed bag, caught bus, arrived at school. Six steps is a real step up from four — with four, the first and last carry most of the work, and with six the middle has to be reasoned about rather than guessed.
What to listen for
Watch the middle four. Brushed teeth, ate breakfast and packed bag can happen in more than one real order, and a child who places them differently from the board may be right about their own morning — accept the reasoning rather than the card order. Notice whether the child can hold six steps at all, since that is a working memory question as much as a sequencing one.
Carrying it home
The morning routine is this sequence. Asking the child to say the order before it starts, rather than being prompted through it, is a real rehearsal that happens anyway.
What's in this activity
- 1st
- 2nd
- 3rd
- 4th
- 5th
- 6th
Questions
- What grades is this for?
- Second through fifth, after four-step sequencing is reliable.
- Do I need an account?
- No, the sequence plays free in the browser.
- What if my student's real order is different?
- Accept it if they can justify it. Several of these steps can genuinely happen in more than one order, and the reasoning matters more than matching the board.
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.