Interactive Story Retelling

Encouraging Retelling with Picture Supports

Stage of Literacy Development:

Stage 0: Foundation for Literacy
Stage 1: Beginning Literacy

Ages:

3-7

Grade Range:

PreK K 1st

Food Groups:

Primary: 
Reading Comprehension Strategies, Text Structures & Genres

Secondary: Oral Language & ELL, Knowledge Building

Activity Description

Preparation:

Choose a familiar, simple, sequential story
1. For example: The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Create a large storyboard organizer that shows the story’s sequence
1. For example, for a story that takes place over several days of the week, create large headings with the names of the days
Create large pictures that depict the major events of the story
1. Try to create one for each student
Create a smaller representation of the storyboard and pictures for student use at a center

Implementation:

Reintroduce a story you have already read
Show the students the storyboard and read the title together
1. Explain that this board will show all of the events of the story in order
Explain the headings and read them together
Distribute the pictures, one to each student
1. Explain that each picture shows a different part of the story
2. When they hear their part of the story, they should come up and stick their picture to the storyboard under the correct heading
Read the story as a class
1. Encourage the students to recite the story with you
2. Pause as you identify the major events in the story and invite students up to add their pictures
Review the storyboard and retell the parts of the story in order
1. Use prompting questions such as “How did the story begin?” “What happened next”?”
2. Encourage students to verbally explain the part that went along with their picture
Introduce students to the smaller version of the storyboard and explain that they can work in pairs to recreate and retell the story at center time

Adaptations For

English Language Learners/ESL:

- In advance, review story with students and explain the picture that they will receive

LD/Reading & Writing Difficulties:

- Encourage students to refer to pictures to help them remember the story sequence

Cultural Appropriateness & Diversity:

- Choose stories that reflect the diversity of the class

Related References

Evidence:
Morrow, L. M. (1985). Retelling stories: A strategy for improving young childrens comprehension, concept of story structure, and oral language complexity. The Elementary School Journal, 85, 646-661.

Activity Objective

The goal of Interactive Story Retelling: Encouraging Retelling with Picture Supports is to build early comprehension skills and promote oral expression by having students sequence the events in a story using pictures and then retell the story in their own words.

What You Need

Prep Time:

20-30 minutes
- Choose a simple, sequential storybook
- Create a large storyboard organizer that shows the story's sequence
- Create pictures to go under the headings that show major parts of the story
- Create a smaller version of the storyboard and pictures

Task Time:

20-30 minutes
- Teacher reintroduces the story
Teacher shows the storyboard and the class reads the headings
- Class reads the story and students add pictures representing each part to the storyboard
- Class retells the story using the storyboard
- Teacher introduces small version of storyboard for centers

Materials Required:

Teacher:
- Simple, sequential storybook
- Construction paper
- White paper
- Markers

What You Do

Teacher Role:

Facilitator:
- throughout activity

Student Grouping:

Whole class:
- throughout activity

Assessment Ideas:

- Observe whether students are able to follow along with the story and add their picture without prompting

- When students are working in centers, make anecdotal notes on the quality of students' spoken retell

Quick Tips

Activity Extensions:

- Have students work in pairs to retell the story orally, taking turns with each new step in the story sequence

- Review some of the major aspects of a story, such as character, setting, problem, resolution

Additional Comments:

- This activity can help give students a concrete sense of story structure. Also, providing visual aids may help support students in being more verbally expressive, especially when retelling the story in pairs at a center. Repeated practice of retelling stories, with or without visual aids, has been shown to have benefits for students comprehension and expression.