Strand A: Foundations of Language and Mathematics · Talking, Listening, Reading and Writing

Telling Stories in Order

A3.3 A3.4 A1.1About 20 minutes

Learning goals

I can tell what happened first, next and last.
I can retell a story I know.
I can show my favourite part of a story by drawing, building or acting.

Words to know

story
Something that happens to someone, told from beginning to end.

retell
To tell a story again in your own words.

first, next, then, last
Order words. They tell what happened before and after.

beginning, middle, end
The three main parts of a story.

character
A person or animal in a story.

Once upon a time...

(Grown-up: read aloud.)

Stories are everywhere! A book has a story. A movie has a story. Even your morning is a story!

Every story has a beginning, a middle and an end. Things happen in order. If we mix up the order, the story gets silly!

Every story has a beginning, a middle and an end, joined in order like the cars of a train.

A silly mixed-up story

Listen: "Sam ate his toast. Then he put the bread in the toaster. Then he took the bread out of the bag."

That is backwards! You can't eat toast before you make it. Here is the right order:

A bag of sliced bread, a toaster and a plate of buttered toast sit in a row on a kitchen counter. — First the bread comes out of the bag, then it goes in the toaster, then we eat the toast. The right order makes sense! AI-generated image

Order	What happens	Picture
First	Take the bread out of the bag.	🍞
Next	Put the bread in the toaster.	🔥
Last	Eat the toast!	😋

Order words help us tell things the right way: first, next, last.

Order words

These words help you tell things in order:

First (or at the beginning)
Next, then
Last (or at the end, finally)

Use your fingers! Hold up 1 finger for first, 2 for next, 3 for last.

Worked example

Let's retell "The Three Little Pigs" together

We will tell this old story in order. (If you don't know it, a grown-up can tell it first.)

Beginning (first): Three little pigs leave home. Each pig builds a house. The first pig builds a house of straw. The second pig builds a house of sticks. The third pig builds a house of bricks.
Middle (next): A big bad wolf comes. He huffs and puffs and blows down the straw house. Then he blows down the stick house. The pigs run to the brick house.
End (last): The wolf huffs and puffs, but he cannot blow down the brick house. The pigs are safe.

First, the pigs build three houses. Next, the wolf blows down the straw house and the stick house. Last, the brick house stays standing and the pigs are safe.

The three houses in story order: first straw, next sticks, last bricks. Only the brick house is still standing at the end.

Story helpers

When you retell, think about:

Who is in the story? (the characters)
Where does it happen?
What happens first, next and last?

Show your favourite part

After a story, you can show what you liked best. You can:

draw it,
build it with blocks or playdough,
act it out with your body and voice.

For "The Three Little Pigs", you could build the brick house with blocks, or huff and puff like the wolf!

Just for fun

Why was the big bad wolf so tired at the end of the story?

He did way too much huffing and puffing! 🐺💨

Hands-on activity

Story in three pictures

You need: a piece of paper folded into 3 parts, and crayons.

Read or tell a favourite story together.
In the first part, draw what happened first.
In the middle part, draw what happened next.
In the last part, draw how it ended.
Point to each picture and retell the story using first, next and last.

Bonus: cut the three parts apart, mix them up, and put them back in order.

Your turn

Put these in order: 🥚 an egg, 🐣 a chick hatching, 🐔 a hen. What comes first?

Tell me 3 things you do in the morning, in order. Use first, next and last.

In "The Three Little Pigs", which house did the wolf blow down first?

Which house did the wolf not blow down?

Who are the characters in "The Three Little Pigs"?

Draw or build your favourite part of a story we read. Tell me about it.

More practice: warm-up

Hold up the number of fingers for first.

What do we put on first: boots or socks?

Every story has a beginning, a middle and an ___?

🌱 a sprout, 🌰 a seed, 🌳 a tree. Which comes first?

Is this right or silly? "I ate my supper, then I cooked it."

More practice: on your own

Put in order to get ready for snow: put on your coat 🧥, open the door 🚪, put on snow pants. Hint: what goes on before the coat?

Retell a story you know well (like "Goldilocks and the Three Bears") in 3 sentences.

Tell me about your last birthday or a holiday. What happened first?

Act out the wolf at the brick house. What does he do?

A story has these parts mixed up: "The bear woke up. The bear slept all winter. The bear went into its den in the fall." Fix the order.

Challenge

What would happen to the story if the third pig had built his house of straw too?

Tell me a story you make up about a snowman. It needs a beginning, a middle and an end.

Why do we need order words like first and last when we tell a story?

Check your understanding

Quiz

Which comes first?

Every story has a beginning, a middle and...

In "The Three Little Pigs", which house stayed standing?

Which word tells about the end of a story?

Which one is a way to show your favourite part of a story?

For parents and teachers

Why this matters: Retelling in order is one of the biggest early reading skills. It shows that a child understood a story, and it builds the language they will later use to write their own stories.

How to help at home:

After reading a book, ask: "What happened first? Then what? How did it end?"
Tell "the story of our day" at bedtime, using first, next, then, last.
Use props: stuffed animals, puppets or toy figures make retelling much easier for young children.
Invite your child to draw, paint, build or act out a favourite part of a book.

Common difficulties: Many 4- and 5-year-olds tell only the most exciting part, or tell events in a jumble. That is normal. Prompt with "What happened before that?" Using three pictures they can physically put in order helps a lot.