What Did We Do Today? Writing Sentences About Sequential Activities 

  • Elementary student
  • This activity gives children practice in language necessary to share their school experiences with their families.
    • Think sequentially
    • Describe events
    • Practice with First…,second…,third…, and First…,then…statements.
    • Attend to communication of others
    • Link signs/spoken words to print
    • Practicing reading skills

Strategy steps

  1. Teacher and children sit in a circle to describe the events of an activity sequentially.
  2. The teacher starts with the first statement and writes it and subsequent statements on the board, e.g.:
    1. This morning we made a papier-mache pinata.
    2. First we mixed white glue with a little water.
    3. Then…
  3. The next student in the circle tells what was done second, and the teacher writes that on the board. Then the third child takes a turn.
  4. Continue in the same manner until the account of the activity is completed.
  5. Teacher reads the sentences and then the children take turns reading the sentences.
  6. Reading can be repeated several times until the children are successful with the reading and remember all of the events.

Variation: At the end of the day, the teacher asks the students, “Did we have a good day, a great day, or a SUPER day at school today?” With the students’ response, the teacher begins the development of the “daily diary.” The teacher writes on the board: “We had a great day in school today. First, Principal Johnson came into our room. She thanked us for cleaning up the playground. Then…” At this point, each student adds information until they have described the whole day. This information should be written on the board as the children make their contributions to connect the language to print, to provide reading practice, and to provide practice on memory skills.