How to Teach Sequencing during Kindergarten Reading Time

There are so many things to cover and standards to teach throughout the year in Kindergarten reading. It can be overwhelming and truly difficult to work through all of it with your students. Some curriculums skip over basic concepts, some speed through them barely giving your students time to practice the skill, and some spend far too long teaching one standard while missing others. It’s a mixed bag and you never really know what you are going to get. 

My Kindergarten Reading Curriculum will take you through the Kindergarten Common Core Standards in a way that is developmentally appropriate, engaging, and easy for you as the teacher to follow. No more 90-minute planning periods filled with prepping for the next day's reading followed by a 90-minute lesson with your students! 

You can read about the first two units of my reading curriculum here! Right now I am going to walk you through Unit 3 Sequencing Non-fiction. 

What’s included in Unit 3? 

First, just like in each of my reading units, you will find a list of all the Common Core Standards met throughout the lesson. Then you’ll find some tips and tricks to remember as you work through the unit! 

Next, you get to the good stuff. First, a schedule for the entire unit and then, the lesson plans themselves! Each lesson plan gives you a teaching point, the materials you will need, a brief, scripted mini-lesson, a brief hands-on activity, and finally a time for your students to share what they know with each other! 

You will also find all the anchor charts, decodables, worksheets, and hands-on activities you need! In the materials section on each lesson plan, I have included screenshots of each of the resources you need so that you can easily identify them and get them ready for class. 

Remember, these are not only meant to be developmentally appropriate, simple lessons for your students, but also easy for you! They are print-and-go so that you could pick up the lesson and teach it that same day. A PowerPoint is also included if you prefer to teach with slides! 

How do these lessons look in the classroom? 

I keep these lessons short, sweet, and to the point. Kindergarten students learn best in SHORT chunks of time. These lessons shouldn’t take you more than 20 minutes TOTAL! 

But wait…. How is that even possible? 

You’ll spend about 10 minutes with your students on the carpet teaching the key concept for the day. This really is the perfect amount of time to ensure your students stay actively engaged in your teaching. 

Then, you’ll give students another 10 minutes to practice that skill. A worksheet or hands-on activity is included with every lesson plan for independent practice. 

You could also have them do tasks with the books in their book bins or class library. You may want them to look at a nonfiction text and draw pictures of the beginning, middle, and end or simply sort between fiction and nonfiction. 

Fast finishers could do both or read independently! You have all the materials included so feel free to switch it up, too! 

Keeping these key concept lessons to just 20 minutes leaves you plenty of time for small groups and centers time! 

What are some of the skills taught throughout the unit?

This unit focuses on a couple of things. The first two weeks are centered around identifying main idea and key details. The last two are focused on sequencing. 

Your students will learn to orally explain the main idea and details, then they will learn to draw them. They’ll learn about using transitional words like first, then, and next. Towards the end of the unit you will work with your students to breakdown, explain, and draw the steps in a specific task. 

This unit pairs very well with my How To Writing Unit! Teach your students how to read nonfiction texts and identify sequential order while also giving them the skills they need to write using sequential order. 

You can read more about how my reading and writing units align in this blog post! 

Ready to buy or looking for more?

You can head over to my Tpt Storefront to find SO MANY developmentally appropriate resources. 

Grab my entire Reading Curriculum Bundle here! The best part is that it is a growing bundle, meaning not all the units are added quite yet. When you grab this bundle NOW, you’ll be paying for just three reading units BUT when I add the rest of these units, you will get them for FREE. 
My Writing Curriculum is also an awesome, developmentally appropriate way to teach writing that is packed full of engaging activities and simple lesson plans!