Strategies to Use When Retelling Stories

The Importance of Story Retell

When you teach retelling, it involves identifying story elements to help students retell a story in their own words, improving reading comprehension and memory retention. Retelling activities boost oral communication and self-confidence, helping students show their grasp of the story's structure, characters, and events. This supports their future success, both academically and personally, by building a foundation for a passion for reading.

Common Core State Standards

Retelling stories is a crucial skill for third grade students (and all elementary students) to master and helps guide students to improve their sequencing skills and understanding of text structure.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.2 states that students should "Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text."

By learning to retell stories, students can build their vocabulary and strengthen their comprehension skills, while gaining a deeper understanding of the narrative structure and story elements. This not only helps students with their reading, but also prepares them for future success in writing, critical thinking, and communication.

Teaching retelling skills is an essential part of the Common Core State Standards, which are designed to provide students with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in college and in their careers.

8 Strategies to Use When Retelling Stories

As students move into third grade, it is important for them to develop their reading comprehension skills, including the ability to retell a story. 

Retelling a story involves more than just recalling a series of events; it requires students to understand and remember the details, sequence, and purpose of the story. 

To help students practice and improve their retelling skills, there are several strategies that teachers, parents, and students can use. These 8 strategies include using first, next, then, last, story mapping, focusing on plot structure, and using visual aids. 

By using a variety of these techniques, students can build their comprehension and retelling skills, and become more confident and proficient in their reading.

1. Put the Main Events in Order

Retelling stories is an important reading skill for students, and it requires them to identify the major events and put them in the right order. This involves understanding the story's flow, sequence, and structure, as well as being able to recall key details and retain the story.

To help students retell stories effectively, teaching them how to create a timeline or use graphic organizers to map out the beginning, middle, and end of a story can be a useful approach. These activities can be fun and interactive, promoting active reading and encouraging students to engage with the story more effectively.

With practice, students will be able to identify the main idea of a story, recall the major events, and retell the story with ease. They will also develop their sequencing skills and a better understanding of text structure.

2. First, Next, Then, Last

Using the simple formula of "first, next, then, last" is a helpful strategy for students to retell stories. This formula provides a structure for students to follow and helps them organize their thoughts as they recount the events in a story.

To use this strategy, students simply need to think about what happened first in the story, what happened next, what happened after that, and finally, what happened last.

This strategy is great for students who are just starting to develop their storytelling skills, as it helps to build confidence and provides a framework for retelling the story.

3. Use Story mapping to visually organize information

Story mapping is a fantastic way for students to visually organize information and retell stories. This strategy involves breaking down a story into its key elements, including characters, setting, plot, and more, and then organizing that information into a visual diagram.

Story mapping provides a clear, visual representation of the story, which can help students better understand and remember the events. Additionally, it provides a structure for students to use when retelling the story, helping them to feel more confident and organized. 

4. Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, Resolution

Retelling a story by focusing on its plot structure, specifically the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution, is an effective strategy for helping students learn more about the story and develop their comprehension skills. By breaking down a story into these distinct parts, students can better understand the sequence of events and how they all fit together to create the overall story.

This understanding can also help students identify the most important events and recognize how different elements of the plot work together to create meaning.

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Exposition

Exposition is the introduction of the setting, characters, and background information in a story. It provides the necessary information for the audience to understand the events that follow. The exposition sets the stage for the rising action and helps establish the context of the story.

Rising Action

Rising action in a story refers to the series of events that follow the introduction and leads to the climax. It presents the conflict and builds tension by presenting obstacles and challenges that the main character faces in pursuit of their goal. The rising action helps to advance the plot and keep the audience engaged as they follow the character's journey.

Climax

The climax of a story is the turning point or the high point of tension in the narrative where the main conflict is resolved. It is often seen as the moment of greatest drama or excitement in the story and marks the shift from the rising action to the falling action.

Falling Action

The falling action of a story occurs after the climax, and it is the sequence of events that follow the climax and lead towards the resolution of the conflict. The falling action provides the closure and ties up the loose ends, revealing the consequences of the climax and moving the story towards its conclusion.

Resolution

The resolution of a story is the part where the conflict or problem is finally resolved and loose ends are tied up. It is the conclusion or ending of the story, where the protagonist has either succeeded or failed in their quest and the reader is left with a sense of closure.

5. Somebody-Wanted-But-So-Then

The "Somebody Wanted But So Then" strategy is a simple and effective way for third-grade students to practice retelling a story. This strategy helps students break down a story into its key elements and put them in a logical order.

By focusing on the main character's wants, obstacles, and actions, students can better understand the story's events and sequence. To use this strategy, students simply need to identify the main character, what they wanted, what stood in their way, and how they eventually overcame the obstacle.

By summarizing the story in this way, students can build their comprehension skills and improve their ability to retell stories accurately and with greater understanding.

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Three Little Pigs Example

To use the "Somebody Wanted But So Then" strategy to summarize the story of the three little pigs, we can start by identifying the main characters and their desires.

Somebody

This story is about the three little pigs.

Wanted

In this story, the pigs wanted to build their own houses and be safe from the big bad wolf.

But

But, the big bad wolf wanted to eat the pigs.

So

So, the first two pigs built houses made of straw and sticks, which were easily blown down by the big bad wolf.

Then

Then the third pig built his house with strong bricks and was able to withstand the wolf's attempts to blow it down. Finally, the wolf was defeated and the three little pigs lived happily ever after in their brick house.

This strategy helps students to focus on the main events and the motivations behind them, and to retell the story in a more structured way.

6. Retelling Rope or Retelling Bracelet

A retelling rope or retelling bracelet is a fun and interactive tool that third-grade students can use to practice retelling stories.

This tool consists of a rope or strip of fabric with different sections marked out with different colors or symbols. If you are making the bracelet version as a visual reminder, you can do so with a pipe cleaner and beads.

Each section represents a different part of the story, such as the characters, setting, problem, solution, and so on.

Students can use the retelling rope or bracelet to visually organize the story in their minds and then retell it in their own words. This hands-on approach to teaching retelling helps students retain information and build confidence in their oral communication skills.

Additionally, using this tool can make retelling stories a fun and engaging activity for students.

7. Practice retelling with a partner or to a small group

Working with a partner or in a small group is a great way for students to practice retelling stories after a read aloud. This type of collaboration allows students to orally retell stories, listen to each other's retelling, provide feedback, and learn from one another. It also helps build social skills and communication skills, as students work together to recount the story and make sure all the important details are included.

By retelling stories with a partner or small group, students can build confidence in their retelling abilities, improve their listening and speaking skills, and have fun while learning.

8. Use props or pictures to help with recall and engagement

Using props or pictures can be a fun and engaging way for third grade students to retell stories. These visual aids can help students remember important details and characters, and can also bring the story to life in a new and exciting way.

Whether it's creating their own props, such as a puppet show or diorama, or using existing illustrations or images, props and pictures can help students stay focused and interested as they work to recall and retell the story.

This type of active participation can be a great way to build their reading comprehension skills, as well as boost their confidence and creativity.

Conclusion

In conclusion, retelling stories is an essential skill for students to master and aligns with the Common Core State Standards. This skill not only helps with reading comprehension and memory retention, but also with oral communication and self-confidence.

By using strategies such as putting main events in order, using first, next, then, last, story mapping, focusing on plot structure, and using visual aids, students can improve their retelling skills and become more confident and proficient in their reading. The 8 strategies outlined in this blog post can help students build their comprehension and retelling skills, and foster a passion for reading.

Check out these reading literature worksheets!

These worksheets go along with these strategies for teaching your 3rd grade students to retell stories. They are also aligned to Common Core State Standards.

3rd Grade Worksheets

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FREE RL.3.9 Worksheets