Wondering if it’s possible to teach retell in primary grades and make it fun? Absolutely! Get ideas on how to teach retell with fun activities and lesson plans ideas here! Don’t forget to get your FREE retell activity below!
How to teach retell:
Teaching students to retell a story is something we need to focus on throughout the entire year. It’s definitely not a one-and-done type reading unit, but rather one that we can stretch out through the entire year. We can touch on it in whole group, small groups, individual reading conferences, etc.
But, how do we keep it fun and engaging throughout the year if we keep going back to it? I’ve come up with ___ ideas to help you engage your students all year long!
Check out these retelling resources:
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Retelling Reading Unit$10.00 -
Reading Unit Bundle | Reading Lessons For The YearProduct on sale$130.80 -
Retell Reindeer (Craftivity)$2.50
#1: Retell Stories In A Silly Voice
This is a little “trick” I use for lots of things, and one of those things is teaching retell. When students retell a story, have them retell it in a high-pitched voice. Or, you can use a very deep low voice. It’s definitely going to bring on the giggles, but sometimes it’s just fun to switch it up.
#2: Use A Retelling Rope
There are lots of retelling ropes on the internet so you can definitely find an idea if you google. A retelling rope is essentially a structure to follow when retelling a story. It’s effective with pictures so students can easily see what part of the retell they’re on.
#3: Use Retelling Puzzles and Pictures
Telling a short story and then having students piece together puzzles or put pictures in order really helps students visually retell. You can find a lot of retelling puzzles on Teachers Pay Teachers (or you can grab ours in our reading unit here). If you’re reading a story that you can easily get photos of or draw photos of, then you could use pictures to retell too.
How to teach retell #4: Play Telephone
This is another silly idea and I recommend using it in small groups, rather than a whole group setting. If you’ve never played telephone, then what did you do growing up? Just kidding! The game of telephone is when a group of people sits in a circle. One person tells a short story or sentence to one person, then they tell the same story to the next person, and so on. It usually ends in a very funny story because the story gets retold incorrectly. To play it this way, tell a short (very short!) story to one person. Then, have that person retell the story to the next person. Then they repeat or retell what that person said to the next person and so on.
#5: Color Code With Pom Poms
Gather a few different colors of pom poms. You’ll also need pictures to match the text. This works best in a small group. Give each student one color of each pom. Then, tell students to put the green pom-pom on the character and the blue pom-pom at the beginning of the story (for example).
#6: Use Our Retell Reading Unit
If you’re looking for a resource to help you teach retelling of a story, then make sure to check out our full, comprehensive reading unit!
This unit includes:
- Anchor chart
- 4 lesson plans
- Pre- and post-assessments
- Bookmarks
- Reading passages
- 3 centers
- Graphic organizers and flipbooks
- Discussion cards
Check out our retelling unit here in our shop
Check out our retelling unit here on Teachers Pay Teachers
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