Use instructional sequences

teaching practice

Save

For student year

Foundation to Year 12

Helps students to

transition smoothly

know what to expect

Helps teachers to

engage students

make tasks manageable

Summary

Many students, including those on the autism spectrum, benefit from receiving instructions in a structured sequence. Having visible, clear, and easy to refer to lesson expectations can ease anxiety and alleviate receptive communication difficulties. By providing an instructional sequence at the beginning of each lesson, teachers give students a road map of what will happen in the lesson.

A clear visual instructional sequence:

keeps students more engaged and on track
helps students understand lesson content, purpose, and objectives – what they are doing and why
promotes a sense of predictability in the classroom
shows students how to break bigger tasks into smaller components – a crucial organisational skill.

"Provide a clear instructional sequence at the beginning of and throughout each lesson to help students stay on track and self- monitor."

How the practice works

Watch this video to learn more about this practice.

Duration 2:26

Australian Professional Standards for Teachers related to this practice

1.6 - strategies to support the full participation of students with disability

4.1 - support student participation

4.2 - manage classroom activities

For further information, see Australian Professional Standards for Teachers AITSL page

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Preparing to teach

Present instructional sequence to students at the start of a lesson, on the board and/or as a handout. The instructional sequence could include:

information about the main topic and learning objectives of the lesson
a numbered sequence of activities to be completed in the lesson
homework requirements
reminders about assessments or special events
notification of the next lesson topic.

To prepare an instructional sequence for a student who has difficulty reading, the teacher could use individually tailored pictorial sequences.

Examples of instructional sequences

Lesson

Task	Time	Complete?
1. Watch introductory video: 'Rome'.	20 mins
2. Whole-class discussion.	10 mins
3. Read pages 35–41 from Ancient History text book.	15 mins
4. Start questions 1–10 on page 42 of text book.

Homework: Complete questions 1–10 on page 42 of text book. Due Thursday 19 July.

Reminder: Assessment 2 is due Monday 23 July.

Lesson

Lesson outline

18/06/2024

Homework

Listen to introduction on levers.
Write out theory – aim, method and results chart.
Complete practical.
Record results.
Pack away equipment.

Science: Levers / Force Multipliers

Visual cues and lesson tracking can be written here.

Complete text book work by Friday, 22/10/10.

Reminder: Short answer quiz – 22 July

Next lesson topic: Speed / Motion

The example above of an instructional sequence is from Costley, D., E. Keane, T. Clark and K. Lane. 2012. A Practical Guide for Teachers of Students with an Autism Spectrum Disorder in Secondary Education. London: Jessica Kingsley, p. 65.

Example of instructional sequences

An instructional sequence displayed on a whiteboard — *An example of a whole-class instructional sequence presented on a whiteboard.*

It works better if the teacher:

checks off completed activities on the instructional sequence or assigns students to do this
builds flexibility into the instructional sequence so it can be adjusted during the lesson. If students on the autism spectrum understand that changes will be flagged on the written (or pictorial) sequence they'll learn to accept schedule alterations
takes a few minutes at the end of the lesson to sum up key points, answer questions, and give a preview of the next lesson, i.e. how this topic relates to the next topic – previews promote students’ interest in a topic and help them connect ideas in a larger context
provides the instructional sequence consistently in the same format.

It doesn't work if:

the instructional sequence is not followed
too much or too little information is included in the instructional sequence.

Related Practices

This practice is from the core research project