Guided Retelling

Comprehension is improved when children retell what they read. After reading a story with your child,
encourage your child to retell the story in his or her own words. Say: “Start at the beginning and tell me
what happened in the story.” The most important events from the beginning, middle, and end in
sequential order should be included. Your child should also refer to characters by name and include all
important details. The retell should be spontaneous without prompting. When children are first
learning to retell a story, they may need the support provided by prompts.
Use the following prompts only when necessary:

1. If your child has difficulty beginning the story, suggest beginning with:
• Once upon a time…
• Once there was…
• In the beginning…
2. If your child stops retelling, encourage continuation by saying:
• Tell me more…
• What comes next?
• Then what happened?
3. If your child is still having difficulty, ask a question about the story that is relevant to the stopping
point to encourage continuation. For example:
• What happened after/before ________ [insert last event recalled by child]?
• What was [insert character’s name] problem in the story?
4. If your child is unable to retell or the retell lacks sequence and detail, prompt the retelling step
by step with the following questions:
1) What happened at the beginning? What happened first?
2) Who was the story about?
3) When did the story happen? (Day, night, summer, winter, etc.)
4) Where did the story happen?
5) What was [insert character’s name] problem in the story?
6) What happened in the middle of the story?
7) How did [insert character’s name] try to solve his/her problem? What did he/she do
first?
8) How did the story end?
**Most important: Always remember to praise your child’s efforts!