Listening and Speaking: Retelling Stories
Listening and Speaking: Retelling Stories Objective: Students will practice listening carefully to a story and then retelling the key details in their own words, developing their communication and comprehension skills.
Learning Objectives
- Understand and remember key details from a story read aloud.
- Use complete sentences to retell the story in order.
- Practice speaking clearly and confidently.
Materials Needed
- A short storybook or printed story appropriate for first grade
- Paper and crayons or markers
- A quiet space for reading and discussion
Key Vocabulary
- Retell
- To tell a story again using your own words and including important details.
- Details
- Small pieces of information that help explain what happens in a story.
- Listen
- To pay attention carefully to sounds or words.
Detailed Activities
Story Listening and Retelling
- Choose a short story to read aloud to your child in a quiet place.
- Read the story slowly and clearly, showing pictures if available.
- After reading, ask your child to think about what happened in the story.
- Encourage your child to retell the story by describing the beginning, middle, and end.
- Help your child use words like first, next, and last to organize the story.
- If needed, prompt with questions like ‘Who was in the story?’ or ‘What happened first?’
- Have your child draw a picture showing their favorite part of the story and describe it aloud.
Parent & Instructor Notes
- This activity helps your child develop important listening and speaking skills that support reading comprehension.
- Be patient and provide positive encouragement to build your child’s confidence in speaking.
- You can repeat the activity with different stories to practice these skills regularly.
Assessment Questions
- Can you tell me what happened at the beginning of the story?
- Who were the main characters in the story?
- What was your favorite part, and why?
- Can you tell the story in the right order, using words like first, next, and last?
Extension Ideas
- Record your child retelling the story and play it back to help them hear their speaking skills.
- Write down your child’s retelling and create a simple storybook together.
- Act out the story with your child using simple props or puppets.
Frequently Asked Questions
Encourage your child by asking simple, guiding questions and allow them to look at the pictures again. Practice retelling with shorter stories initially.
Try to do this activity 2-3 times a week to build strong listening and speaking skills gradually.
Teacher’s Guide
Common Misconceptions:
- Children may repeat the story word-for-word instead of retelling in their own words.
- Some children might skip important story details or have difficulty organizing sequence.
Scaffolding Ideas:
For Struggling Students:
- Use shorter, simpler stories with clear pictures.
- Allow the child to use pictures to point to while retelling.
- Break down the story into smaller parts and retell one part at a time.
For Advanced Students:
- Encourage adding extra details or describing characters’ feelings.
- Have the child retell stories from different points of view.
- Introduce new vocabulary words from the story and use them in sentences.
Pacing Recommendations:
- Spend about 10-15 minutes reading and discussing the story.
- Use 15-20 minutes for retelling practice with guidance and drawing.
- Reserve 5-10 minutes for review questions and reflection.
Standards
- 1.SL.6 — undefined
Printable Worksheet
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