Following Directions Worksheets

Related ELA Standard: L.3.2-5

Core Standard
Answer Keys Here

Making sure you pay attention to detail when performing a written task is a key skill for all students to learn to master. Directions for tasks help us pass knowledge on and pass us further towards the truth of just about everything. Students often skim through a set of directions and miss minuet, but salinity details that can lead to a successful outcome. This series of worksheets puts students to the test of following specifically guided directions. In some cases, reading directions is all they have to do.

Following Directions Worksheets To Print:

Flying a Plane! - Make your first paper airplane flight smooth and then try it again. See if you flight lasts longer the more often you make them. See which modifications help it fly better.

List Mania - You might want to time this one and see how accurate and quickly you can get it done. Put the list of words below into alphabetical order. Write them on the lines, starting with the top line. You will then create some synonyms.

The Girl's Thoughts - You will proceed with a drawing task as well as a short creative saying. She really doesn't look like a happy camper, if you get my drift.

Under the Microscope - Students take their time and follow a series of instructions to make sense of a community of bacteria and viruses. This set of directions is like a really cool poem.

Working With Shapes - Aren't almost all structures of homes, just a series of shapes. We have you create a completed home by following a series of steps.

Animals and Shapes - Read the directions slowly. Those that speed through this one, usually find it tough.

Read Closely - Use the vocabulary words at the right of the page to fill in the blanks. Some words may be used more than once. Others may not be used at all.

Will I Be A Hero? - We ask you to draw an awesome picture for us. You will also create a well thought out caption to accompany it.

Are You Paying Attention? - This one is a physical activity. I would caution you on using this with disruptive groups that may not be mature enough to complete it.

Symbol Series - Fill in the boxes below with the words, according to the following symbols. The down arrow is slantly slightly to see if they notice.

Multi-Step Directions - There are a ton of moving parts here. Identify whether they are synonyms or antonyms. Write synonyms or antonyms on the line. Of the synonyms, circle the word that has the most intensity.

Color Me Crazy! - How hard could 5 sentence directions be, you would be surprised! You will need crayons for this one.

How Well Can You? - The math problem is the only concrete part of this worksheet. There is some drawing involved here.

I Know or Don't Know It - This is a little bit of an "About Me" activity too. This is a fun activity that can help you to learn more about your students.

Build a Snowman! - Cut out each shape. Glue them in order at the top of a piece of construction paper.

What to Do When Children Have Trouble Following Directions


Learning how to understand and follow instructions, whether they are given in written or verbal form, is a life skill like any other. We must remember, as educators, that by the time children reach our classrooms they have already learned a great many life skills. If they are not in habit of listening, understanding, and then taking action; they will have difficulty with this skill. It is a good practice to encourage students to recognize when instructions are being given to them. Many students simply struggle with focusing on an activity and may get distracted with the slightest disruption. Most often they do not have difficulty with the overall process, they just need more time to complete it. This can often be a processing issue, but if we help students realize when their attention is required, they will have a greater success rate with directions.


In many cases the attention span of students is to blame for their inability to follow just about any direction. In a world filled with quick rewards for the littlest of task, it hard to break through and teach students the importance of patience.


The first step for a teacher is to guide the students towards a better demand of their attention. This can be as easy as telling them to focus. Nonverbal cues are often helpful with this as well. In the digital world it is as known as heat mapping, but helping students understand where on a page they put their focus is often helpful too. Working to minimize any sort of distraction either on the page itself or in the classroom can work to your advantage and the students too.


Make sure that students enact a pause when starting any task; this can often be a key to breaking through their inability to focus. This can be achieved by asking students to only start task that they fully understand.


If students are having trouble with verbal instructions make sure to only give one instructions and then follow it with a prolonged pause. This gives them time to orientate themselves towards each task. As students mature, this wait time can be greatly reduced.


The Real-life Consequences of Not Following Directions


Following directions on paper is one thing. At worst, you get something wrong and eventually learn to pay more attention to details. This can help make you a strong reader. There are plenty of directions in the real world that many people may not follow. It might be because they are in rush to get some place. It is often people that are just taking shortcuts because they are lazy. Each year in the United States just over fifteen hundred people are fatally wounded at intersections that are controlled by traffic lights. Mechanical error is to human in less then one-quarter of a percent of the time. The remain casualties are the result of one or both of the two parties ignoring or disregarding directions. That not to mention the over twenty-thousand non-fatal accidents that happen this way each year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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