Welcome, everyone! Today we're going to talk about a fundamental skill that's not just important for computers, but for our everyday lives as well: sequencing. Sequencing is simply the art of putting things in the correct order. Think about a recipe: if you add the flour after you bake the cake, it won't turn out right. The order of the steps is what makes the recipe work.

Computers are the same way. They can't guess or improvise. They need a set of clear instructions, and those instructions must be in the perfect sequence to get a job done. If the sequence is wrong, the program won't work. By learning to think about the correct order of things, we're developing a key skill that all programmers use every single day.

Explain to the students that you're going to play a game to practice following instructions exactly. The game is called Simon Says.

Remind them of the key rule: you should only follow a command if it starts with the phrase, "Simon says." All other commands should be ignored. You can decide if you want to play this as a knockout game or just for fun.

Play a few rounds, starting with simple commands to get everyone warmed up.

• "Simon says, touch your nose."

• "Simon says, jump."

• "Spin in a circle." (See who gets "out" here!)

• "Simon says, stand on one foot."

Observe how well students listen and ensure they understand the importance of following instructions carefully. This is a crucial skill for computer science! 

Play more rounds with your class to ensure understanding (check the teacher notes for more commands).

Tell students you’re now going to think about what happens first and what happens then. Explain that first is the thing at the start, and then is what happens right after. This is a core idea in all of coding.

Read these examples out loud to the class to get them thinking:

• "First, I wake up. Then, I get out of bed."

• "First, I put on my socks. Then, I put on my shoes."

• "First, I wash my hands. Then, I eat my lunch."

Now, ask the students to share their own examples. You can help them by prompting them with routines from your school day, like getting ready for lunch or packing up to go home.

Once they've shared, tell them that you’re going to read a story about a girl's daily routine that shows how first and then work in her day. This is a great way to show them how a sequence of events happens in the real world.

Now, let's put that into practice! Display the interactive game on the classroom screen. Explain that they'll see a picture in the "First" box and their job is to figure out what logically happens next. They will need to drag the correct image to the "Then" box.

Use a simple example to show them: if the "First" picture is a hand holding a key, the "Then" picture would be a door opening.

Let students take turns coming up to the board to drag the correct image to the "Then" box, or complete the sequence as a whole class. This interactive activity reinforces the idea of sequencing by helping them understand that one event must happen in a specific order for the next event to occur.