The Very Cranky Bear: Sequencing is a purposeful activity designed to accompany a whole class reading of the picture book The Very Cranky Bear by Nick Bland. These no-prep comprehension worksheets will allow you to check your students’ ability to sequence the main events of the story.

After reading the text, students will identify and record the main events that took place throughout the story. They will explore the structure of the text by organising the story events into either beginning, middle, and end or orientation, complication, and resolution.

The Very Cranky Bear: Sequencing offers multiple worksheet options to suit a range of learning needs. Students can draw, write, or combine both skills to record their understanding of the story sequence. This task supports comprehension, text structure awareness, and oral and written language development.

This activity is perfect for independent work, small group tasks, scribing, assessment evidence, or your relief folder. It provides a flexible and engaging way for students to demonstrate their understanding of story structure.

Key Learning Outcomes:

• ✅ Sequence the main events of a narrative text
• ✅ Understand story structure (beginning, middle, end or orientation, complication, resolution)
• ✅ Practise drawing and writing to communicate comprehension
• ✅ Build oral and written language skills
• ✅ Promote flexible thinking and deeper engagement with the text

What’s Included:

• Drawing the events from the beginning, middle and end or the orientation, complication and resolution
• Drawing and writing about the events from the beginning, middle and end or the orientation, complication and resolution
• Writing about the events from the beginning, middle and end or the orientation, complication and resolution
• Versions provided with 24mm and 18mm lines

Materials Needed:

• Printed The Very Cranky Bear: Sequencing worksheets
• Pencils, crayons, markers

How to Use:

1. Read The Very Cranky Bear with your class.
2. Discuss the structure of the story and review key events.
3. Choose the worksheet option that best suits your students.
4. Students complete the worksheet by drawing and/or writing about the story events in sequence.
5. Encourage students to share their sequencing work and retell the story using their completed worksheets.

Ideas for Classroom Use:

• 💡 Use as an independent comprehension task after reading The Very Cranky Bear.
• 💡 Include in a literacy rotation for sequencing practise.
• 💡 Use for assessment evidence of narrative comprehension and sequencing skills.
• 💡 Add to a relief folder as a no-prep literacy activity linked to a familiar text.

Top Teacher Tips:

• 💛 Enlarge worksheets to A3 for Early Years and Foundation students to provide more space for drawing and writing.
• 💛 Model the use of story language (e.g. first, next, finally) to support oral retells and written sequencing.
• 💛 Provide sentence starters for students who need extra support with writing about events.
• 💛 Use student work to create a collaborative class story map or display of the story sequence.

The Very Cranky Bear: Sequencing is a flexible and engaging way to support students in building comprehension, text structure understanding, and oral and written language skills. It’s the perfect addition to your literacy unit on this much-loved text!

Check out more amazing resources related to The Very Cranky Bear in our The Very Cranky Bear PACKAGE.

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