- Begin by reading The Mitten aloud to your students. Be sure to model fluency and focus on tone to engage students. Also, give them plenty of time to study the accompanying illustrations.
- Next, pass out paper and crayons so students can draw their own mittens. While they do that, draw a large mitten on a large piece of paper for them to use as a guide as you work alongside them. On a separate sheet of paper write down all the forest animals that appeared in the story. If you have cut-outs of the animals, even better.
- Ask students to remember the order in which each forest animal entered the mitten and begin writing, or placing, each inside their mittens. Will they all fit
- Once the animals are in the mittens, ask students to act out what happens next and then explain that they’ve just recreated a classic folk tale! You may want to have a box of tissues ready!
Teaching students sequencing is a great way to boost reading comprehension and help students organize their ideas for when they want to share their own stories. Whether it’s through Jan Brett's The Mitten or another classic story with an engaging, step-by-step storyline, teaching sequencing provides students the skills they need for success across a variety of disciplines.
In The Mitten, the story progresses as one forest animal after another enters a young boy’s mitten that he’s lost in the snow. Each animal represents an important plot point in the story, which makes the book the perfect tool, along with a few additional crafty items, to teach young readers about sequencing. Here’s how: