Clean Sweep

Reading Skill: Sequence

To fully understand a story, you must recognize the sequence, or order of events described.  While events are often presented in the order in which they occur, sometimes the action is interrupted to present a scene from an earlier time.  This scene, called a flashback, can help explain a character's actions.  To help you figure out when events occurred, look for signal words or phrases such as these: four years ago, moments later, while.


As you read "Clean Sweep," keep track of the sequence of the sequencing by recording important events on a sequence chart.