Pancake Sequencing

Throughout this week, we have been focusing on retelling a story’s beginning, middle, and end with a focus on the sequence of events. The books that were used in instruction were the various Curious George books. Because seriously, what kid doesn’t LOVE Curious George!?

We compared and contrasted Curious George stories’ beginning, middle, and end, sequenced the events in each book, and student independently wrote stories in sequence with a clear beginning, middle, and end. On Friday, we topped the week off with Curious George Makes Pancakes.

When the word “sequencing” comes up in the lesson plans, I immediately think “What can we cook in the classroom?” I have found that cooking in the classroom is an engaging and effective way to reinforce sequencing skills and promote passionate writing.

As a class, we made the pancake batter. Words like “first, then, next, last” were used throughout the process as we charted the steps on the board. The students helped me with every step… I was really more of a guide. (For the portion, a nice way to simplify the pancake making process is to buy the “just add water” pancake mix in which you put the water in the contain, screw on the lid, and shake, shake, shake.)

Then, we fired up the griddle! I was brave this year, and I let my First Graders flip the pancakes. And, I was so impressed by their pancake flipping skills. According to them, it was the “BEST DAY EVER!”

While some students were flipping pancakes, the other students were working on their independent writings about the sequence of making pancakes. They worked vigorously as they awaited their turn to flip the pancakes. They knew that if they were not on task, they would miss the privilege of being able to flip the pancakes, yes. But they were also excited about writing about their new-found knowledge regarding the steps to making pancakes. One girl remarked on her writing saying, “When my mommy reads this, it’s going to teach her how to make pancakes.” These kiddos crack. me. up.