Retell the Story

Another important strategy to teach primary students is to retell the story. This strategy fits under Comprehension on the CAFÉ menu. Retelling a story seems like an easy task, but for primary students it sometimes can be challenging. I find that many of my students cannot remember anything except a sentence or two. The rest of the students try to tell me the entire story, word for word. Finding a balance between the two is something I work on throughout the year. Teaching students to retell a story in sequence with information about the character, setting, and plot is essential to helping them become a good reader. It also helps develop their knowledge of story structure for their own writing.

Explaining the Strategy:

“Who were the main characters?”

“What was the problem? How was it solved?”

“What happened in the beginning, middle, and end of the story?”

Ideas for Teaching:

• Model this strategy during an interactive read-aloud. Use a retell rope (a rope with 8 knots tied in it). Each knot stands for the following: Characters, setting, problem, event 1, event 2, event 3, event 4, and ending.
• Emphasize that retelling means to tell what is important, in a way that makes sense, without telling too much.
• Have students read independently for 5-10 minutes then stop and practice retelling with a partner.
• Start by practicing with real-life experiences from the students. Have them retell and event from their weekend. Remind them to tell what is important, in a way that makes sense, without telling too much.

Helpful Websites:

http://www.liketoread.com/read_strats_retell.php

This website offers tips and activities to use in the classroom when teaching students how to retell.

http://www.readingrockets.org/article/13282

This article gives ideas on how to incorporate pictures into retelling.

http://www.readingrockets.org/article/33920

This article offers a link to the retelling pyramid, which is a graphic organizer that can be used when teaching how to retell a nonfiction selection.

Supporting Picture Books:

Lobel, A. (1980). Fables. New York, NY: HarperCollins.

• Most fables include a lesson or theme in the story, relatable characters, and a repetitive story structure. This makes it easier for students when they are beginning to retell stories.

Brett, J. (1987). Goldilocks and the three bears. New York, NY: The Putnam and Grosset Group.

• As I mentioned above, folktales, fables, and fairytales are a good place to start when teaching students how to retell. Goldilocks and the Three Bears is a story that most students have heard multiple times, so it will be easy for them to retell.

Galdone, P. (1973). The little red hen. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Co.

• The Little Red Hen is another classic story told to children. Retelling will come naturally with the repetitive nature of this story.

Professional Resources:

Boushey, G., & Moser, J. (2009). The cafe book. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.

Miller, D. (2002). Reading with meaning. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.