If You Take a Mouse to the Movies Reading Lesson

Increase Comprehension Skills by Teaching Kids How to Sequence

Oct 26, 2009

Elementary teachers can use the book If You Take a Mouse to the Movies to teach students how to sequence a story by putting events in order on a popcorn string.

The ability to correctly sequence events in a story facilitates students’ understanding of the text. Elementary students need multiple opportunities to practice identifying and ordering plot events to become successful at sequencing. Teachers can use Laura Numeroff’s story If You Take a Mouse to the Movies [HarperCollins, 2000] as the basis for a sequencing reading lesson.

If You Take a Mouse to the Movies is the story of a little boy and a mouse who go on a series of holiday adventures including going to the movies, stringing popcorn, and making a snowman. The high interest story has a simple, but engaging plot line that begins and ends with the boy and the mouse going to the movies. The circular plot line of If You Take a Mouse to the Movies is easy for students to sequence and a good choice for elementary reading lessons.

How to Sequence Reading Lesson Objective

The students will correctly identify and sequence the plot events in If You Take a Mouse to the Movies.

The teacher begins the reading lesson by showing the students the front cover and illustrations from If You Take a Mouse to the Movies. The kids discuss what they see in the pictures and talk about what they think will happen in the story. The teacher explains to the students that the things that happen in the story are called plot events. The students use the illustrations to predict the story’s plot events.

The teacher reads If You Take a Mouse to the Movies to the students. During the story the teacher refers to the kids’ list of plot event predictions and has them revise the list as they get new information. The students discuss the story and the accuracy of their plot event predictions.

How to Teach Elementary Kids to Sequence Story Events

Once the students have learned how to identify plot events in a story the teacher teaches them how to sequence the story events. The teacher passes out sheets of card stock with outlines of popcorn on them. She instructs the class to write and illustrate each story event on one of the popcorn outlines. When they are finished the students cut out each piece of popcorn.

The teacher has the class to mix up their pieces of popcorn. She tells them that now they have to put all of the plot events back into the correct order. The teacher explains that when you put things into the correct order you are sequencing them. The teacher gives each student in the class a piece of string and tells the class that they will sequencing their story events on a string just like the mouse did with the popcorn in the book.

The students use a hole puncher to make a hole at the top of each of their plot events. They take the popcorn piece detailing that the boy takes the mouse to the movies and ties one end of the string to the top of it. The kids sequence the rest of the story events and place them in order on the string ending with the mouse wanting to go to the movies again. The teacher can display the plot event popcorn chains in the classroom.

The copyright of the article If You Take a Mouse to the Movies Reading Lesson in Primary School Lesson Plans is owned by Megan Sheakoski. Permission to republish If You Take a Mouse to the Movies Reading Lesson in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.