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Reading: Comprehension
Sequencing and Signal
Words
Today's Snack: "Sequence" is another word for "order." A sequence is
a series of events in which one thing follows another.
The seasons come in sequence - winter, spring,
summer, fall. It's the same thing with stories and books. They all have a
beginning, a middle and an end. A sequence!
Even individual sentences have a sequence. The
sentence begins, there's action and details in the middle, and then the
sentence ends.
You will be a better reader if you pay attention to
sequences in what you read. And you will be a happier snacker if you pay
attention to the sequence of food items that you put together to make a snack
recipe.
Today's sequence is bread-peanut butter-jelly-bread,
and voila! That sequence just produced a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for
your snack!
Wash it down with a tall glass of milk, taking a sip
after every bite - in sequence!
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Supplies:
A stack of books to
read for fun
The "sequence" in a piece of writing is its order -
beginning, middle and end. A sequence is a series or pattern of events,
descriptions and action.
If you can follow the sequence in a sentence,
paragraph or whole story, you are much more likely to understand what is
happening. So it's a great skill for reading.
There are cues in a piece of writing to help you
understand the sequence. We call these "signal words." These are words that
alert you that something is coming before or after something else. Like a
traffic light flashes red, signaling you to stop, a signal word in a piece of
writing tells you that the sequence is about to change.
Practice observing sequences by reading a book for
fun, alone or with a friend or adult. Stop and comment when you see signal
words, like these:
Then
But
After a while
Next
. . . etc. What other signal words can you list, that
show sequences?