Polar Bear Sequencing and Inferencing

Sequencing is one of my favorite skills to work on, but lately, I’ve grown a little tired (and I’m sure my students have too) of putting pictures in the correct order and retelling the story, so I wanted to create an activity to target sequencing in a different way. Therefore, I bring you Polar Bear Sequencing and Inferencing!

This activity includes (24) 5-step sequencing tasks. There’s one problem with this activity, though… one of the steps in the sequence is missing! Students must decide which step has been “conveniently” left out and add it, in order for the sequence to make sense. Every card also includes an inferencing “what comes next?” question intended to help students think of a logical action that might come after the sequence.

You can grab this Polar Bear Sequencing and Inferencing activity at my TPT store here.

Here’s an additional holiday-themed activity from one of the 1st grade teachers at my school that I borrowed and tweaked a bit to go along with this activity. This was originally meant to be a writing activity where students write about their holiday preferences/traditions. Certainly, you could use this activity “as is” to work on syntax, carryover of articulation skills, etc, but in order to pair it with the Polar Bear Sequencing and Inferencing activity, here’s an alternative option.

Materials: Large sheets of white paper, 1” thick green strips of paper, 1” thick red strips of paper, bows, and “gift tags”. I liked these gift tags from thestir.cafemoms.com, so I just printed them and cut them out for my students to use.

Activity: Students glue one green or red strip horizontally to their white paper and the other strip vertically. Next, they draw or write the 4 different actions from a sequencing task card, numbering the steps as they go. (They can also write the title of the activity on one of the green or red paper strips.) Right now, I know you’re asking the question: “Wait a minute, though! One of the steps is missing!” and you’re exactly right. That’s where the gift tag comes in. Students write: “The missing step is…” and then write the missing step (as well as the number of the missing step) on the gift tag. Then, they can attach the gift tag and the bow to the center of their “present” to complete the activity. Hope you find this material and/or activity useful! Thanks for reading!