story retelling in my class

Each month we have a new story for retelling. The lesson begins with a shared reading lesson. A book is introduced and children are encouraged before, during and after the reading to participate in a discussion about the book highlighting their favorite parts, telling about another story or experience the story reminded them of or asking questions they may have.

Later, the children are engaged in a follow-up activity related to the story. Some examples include making stick puppets, sequence cards, or drawing a picture of their favorite part or the cover of the story.

The next day, we revisit the story by listening to it on an audiotape from beginning to end with no discussion. This allows the children to become completely absorbed in the story without interruption. The reading is followed by an additional discussion highlighting anything new- a second reading gains greater comprehension and many times students will say, “I didn't remember that from yesterday” or “I forgot that part”.

Shared reading on day three is where the story retelling begins. I cover the words in the story and model story retelling to the children. The lesson begins with the following phrases: Story retelling is telling what you remember by looking at the pictures, not reading the words. When we retell stories it is important to:

After I model retelling for a few pages, children take turns as well. Before turning the page, I always ask if there is anything else we can say about a page in order to ensure participation by all and a thorough retelling.

In the late spring, we practice retelling with our Library books. In order to foster the home/school connection students borrow library books once a week. Along with the library book, I send home a paper for students to write the title of their library book and to draw a picture of their favorite part. Parents are asked to read the library book to their children 2-3 times during the week so the kindergartner knows the story well. Before returning books to the library, the children sit in a circle in groups of 3-5 and retell their library books to their group. Fiction and non-fiction books work equally well for this activity. The most exciting part for me is going back to the library and having children ask to borrow a book their friend just told them about!

I have multiple copies of many of the books we use for retelling in Kindergarten. After we retell the story in a whole group, children have the opportunity to retell with a friend. They each take a turn, alternating pages, telling what they remember about the story. Students are encouraged to help their friends if needed, but to also remember to give them time to think about and remember the story on their own before helping.

Independent retelling is utilized for two purposes: During independent reading and for assessment purposes. During independent reading, one choice is to retell a familiar book we have in school. This gives students the opportunity to practice retelling on their own. Additionally, story retelling is assessed on the Kindergarten progress report. Children are asked to retell a story we have read several times in school and are graded on appropriate sentence structure and fluency along with the criteria listed above in the Whole Group Retelling section.

I am always amazed at the kindergartners' ability to retell stories! By the end of the year, students have become so involved and have embraced the process, they can run their small groups with little or no teacher assistance- It is exciting to see such active participation and audience engagement as students retell to their friends.

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