Sequence Structure — First, Next, Finally

Mentor-text close-read: teacher reads aloud a sequence-structured passage from 'Sit-In' (dates and time-phrases mark the sequence). Children listen for time-words and dates.

• Read with informational-narrator voice
• Pause at each time-marker and name it
• Bridge: 'this is SEQUENCE text-structure'

M-3-S-WR-11-B Photograph

Reference photo of an open page from 'Sit-In' showing a passage with the date 'February 1, 1960' clearly visible and sequence signals 'first', 'then', 'the next day' highlighted. Print-ready 4x6 photo.

Today we meet the THIRD text-structure: SEQUENCE. A sequence paragraph organizes information by ORDER IN TIME — first this, then that, then this. Sequence fits biographies, processes (how something is made or done), and historical events. The signal words are powerful: FIRST, SECOND, NEXT, THEN, AFTER THAT, LATER, FINALLY. Dates and time-phrases also signal sequence (in 1960, on February 1, the next day, a week later). Watch the model. (Teacher reads aloud a passage about Wangari Maathai) 'When Wangari was young, she loved the forests near her home. FIRST, she saw how the forests gave her village clean water and food. THEN, when she grew up, she watched the forests being cut down. AFTER THAT, she started the Green Belt Movement and asked women to plant trees. FINALLY, in 2004, she won the Nobel Peace Prize for her work.' Notice the four sequence-signals and one date.

• SEQUENCE = order in time. Use sequence-signals at the START of each step and pair them with numbers or dates when you can.

  model TOPIC (purple): 'A honeybee colony grows in stages across the spring.' DETAIL (blue): 'FIRST, the queen lays eggs in the wax cells of the hive.' EXAMPLE (orange): 'After 3 days, the eggs hatch into larvae; AFTER THAT, the workers feed them for 6 days; FINALLY, the larvae change into adult bees inside sealed cells.' TRANSITION (green): 'Once the new bees are ready, they begin their own work in the hive.'

  prompt Teacher writes a sequence-structure TDET paragraph from scratch about how a honeybee colony grows.

• Name 3 sequence-signal words.
• When does SEQUENCE fit a topic better than DESCRIPTION?

M-3-S-WR-11-A Chart

11x17 anchor with SEQUENCE at the top in large blue color-block letters. Below: 4 numbered steps in a horizontal arrow (Step 1 FIRST, Step 2 NEXT, Step 3 AFTER THAT, Step 4 FINALLY) with icons. Below the arrow: worked example paragraph (Wangari Maathai's life) with each sequence-signal highlighted in yellow. Print-ready, dyslexic-friendly font.

• Pick a body-paragraph focus that calls for sequence (a process, a biography, a historical order). Draft a TDET paragraph using 3 sequence-signals.

  scaffold Sequence signal-word card at desk + MG-3 + MG-4 anchors
• Annotate: underline each sequence-signal in blue; circle any dates or time-phrases.

  scaffold Blue pencil + signal-word card

• Read your sequence paragraph aloud to a partner. Partner names: 3 sequence-signals and the time-order of the steps.
• Star your strongest sequence signal.

• Hold up your sequence paragraph.
• Predict: tomorrow we draft body 3 — and we revise the whole draft for cohesion.

• At home tonight, write a 4-step sequence for an ordinary task (brushing teeth, making a sandwich, walking the dog). Use FIRST, NEXT, AFTER THAT, FINALLY. Bring it tomorrow.