Cuenta el cuento en tus dos idiomas
Narración translingüe: contar la misma historia en español y en inglés y comparar.
Session summary (SOAP)
Stays on this screen. Nothing is saved or sent.
Mark a card Correct, Correct with cue or Incorrect and the summary writes itself here.
How to run it
Do not correct the language mixing. A bilingual child who reaches into the other language mid-retell is doing something normal and informative, and stopping it removes the data. Take both retells before discussing anything, then use the final question to talk about which words were available in which language. Fifteen minutes covers the story and both retells with a short comparison.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentPresent the item and wait 5 seconds of quiet before helping.Log as correct
- Question promptAsk a story-grammar question: who, where, what was the problem, what happened next?Log as cued
- Two choicesOffer two possible next parts of the story and let the student pick and say it.Log as cued
- ModelTell that part yourself; the student tells it back in their own words.Log as cued
Adjust it
Use fewer parts, and keep a first-next-last visual on the table.
Ask for the retell without the pictures, with a feeling or a reason added to each part.
Matching IEP goal
Given a picture or story prompt, Student will tell a story that includes a character, setting, problem and ending in 4 of 5 opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions, given no more than one question prompt.
Send it home through the parent portal →About this activity
A seven-part story about Lucía finding a lost puppy in the park — el perrito tenía hambre, hicieron un cartel, el perrito se llamaba Coco — followed by three tasks: retell it in Spanish, retell the same story in English, and then answer which language was easier and which words were missing in the other. That last question is the whole activity.
What to listen for
Compare the two retells against each other rather than against a standard. A student whose Spanish retell has full story structure and whose English one is a list of events has a language-specific vocabulary gap, not a narrative difficulty — and that distinction changes the whole plan. Watch for the emotional line surviving in both: estaba triste, pero contenta is the part that most often disappears in the weaker language.
Carrying it home
Ask for the same story twice at home in whichever two languages the family uses. Retelling in the home language first usually produces a fuller version and gives the child something to work from.
What's in this activity
- Escucha: una niña llamada Lucía encontró un perrito perdido en el parque.
- El perrito tenía hambre y estaba mojado por la lluvia.
- Lucía lo llevó a su casa y le dio agua y comida.
- Su mamá dijo: "Hay que buscar a su familia."
- Hicieron un cartel con la foto del perrito.
- Al día siguiente llamó una señora: el perrito se llamaba Coco.
- Lucía estaba triste, pero contenta de haber ayudado.
- Ahora cuéntalo en español, de principio a fin.
- Now tell the same story in English, start to finish.
- ¿En qué idioma fue más fácil? ¿Qué palabras te faltaron en el otro?
Questions
- Is this activity in Spanish?
- The story is in Spanish and the last two tasks ask for a retell in each language. The page is in English so an English-speaking clinician can evaluate it.
- Do I need an account?
- No, it plays free in the browser.
- Should I stop the student from mixing languages?
- No. Mixing is normal bilingual behaviour and it is informative here — where a student switches usually shows where a word is missing in one language, which is exactly what this activity is designed to reveal.
Use this board with your caseload
With a free account, every correct, cued and incorrect mark is saved to the student and scored against their IEP goal, with the data written up for you. Assign it as home practice through the parent portal.
Track progress freeFree for SLPs. No card, no trial clock.