Engaging Story Retell Activity

Are you looking for a story retell activity that isn’t just like a plain old worksheet? We have you covered with this super engaging story-retelling wheel template. With three slightly different templates to accommodate the different levels in your class – this differentiated retell activity is the perfect addition to your retell lesson planning. The three different templates require slightly different information from your students:

• Template 1 has students completing what happened at the story’s beginning, middle, and end.
• Template 2 has students include five bits of detail in order about the story using vocabulary such as first, next, then, etc.
• Template 3 has students detailing the setting, the characters, and what happened at the story’s beginning, middle, and end.

Once you’ve picked the template that suits your student’s needs, it’s time to pick a text you will read to them. Here is a suggested list of simple children’s books that are often used when learning the characteristics of retelling:

• “Chrysanthemum” by Kevin Henkes
• “Duck for President” by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin
• “Giraffes Can’t Dance” by Giles Andrease
• “The Gruffalo” by Julia Donaldson

Teaching Retell Enhances Comprehension

Teaching your students how to retell a story successfully requires your students to engage with the material actively. By retelling a story or text, they must understand the content well enough to extract and convey its key points accurately. This only deepens their comprehension skills.

Retelling a story can also develop your students’ vocabulary and language skills as they are encouraged to use their words to convey information.

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Use the dropdown menu to choose between the PDF or editable Google Slide version of this resource.

This resource was created by Lindsey Phillips, a teacher in Michigan and a Teach Starter collaborator.

More Retelling Activities

We’re here to help you cut down your lesson planning with these super curriculum-aligned retelling resources:

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