Retelling is an academic skill. Let’s face it- we ask our kids to do a lot of weird things in the name of education. When is the last time that you uttered the phrase, “But wait! Let’s use the Quadratic Equation!” I don’t think I have ever thought that, let alone said it.
We do sometimes ask our children to learn or practice things that we don’t normally encounter in our daily lives. However, there is a reading skill that is very useful and important to practice with your children. The ability to retell a story is an important skill for young children. Retelling is the ability to restate the important elements of a story in chronological order.
Retelling encourages comprehension. A child must think about what is read and relate what happnes in a story. Retelling is an important skill, as it lays the groundwork for being able to summarize. In upper grades, children are expected to summarize information for not only reading class, but also for scientific writing. Summarization can be a sophisticated skill that requires children to figure out and internalize the most important elements of the story and then report that information in chronological order.
Retelling, however, does not need to be a daunting task to teach your children. Many children will automatically retell a story that they find interesting. The key is to encourage the child to abbreviate the story and not give every bit of information, but rather, only give the most imporant parts of the story. A retelling is longer than a summary, but the child should not give every detail about a story in his or her retelling.
What elements should you look for in a good retelling? A good retelling should have these five basic elements:
1. Characters. The child should first identify the main characters.
2. Setting. The child should find the where and the when of the story.
3. Main problem. What is the main conflict?
4. Obstacles. What obstacles does the main character overcome in the story?
5. Resolution. How does the story end?
Retellings can be encouraged in several fun ways. Why not try having your child retell a story with:
1. a puppet show
2. playing charades
3. a creative dance
4. writing/ singing a song made about the story
Retelling a story is an important skill to encourage with your child, but that does not mean that it has to be boring. Get up and get moving and make learning fun!