Listening Comprehension Step 3: Short Story Facts
Step 3 of 6. A four-sentence story is read aloud with the words hidden, then three fact questions about who, where, when and why. This is part of a six-step listening comprehension ladder: one detail, two details, short story facts, order and main idea, listening between the lines, and classroom talk.
This device has no voice — read the passage aloud to the student.
On Saturday morning Jada and her dad went to the lake. They brought a net to catch tadpoles. Jada slipped on a wet rock and got her socks soaked. She laughed because the water was so cold.
When did they go to the lake?
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
Play the story once before the first question. The same story comes back for all three questions, so encourage the student to listen again when they are unsure rather than guess. Read each question aloud or press its speaker. A useful habit to build here is saying the story back in a sentence before answering. Move to Step 4 when fact questions about a short story are steady.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentPress Listen so the student hears the passage with the words hidden; play it again before giving any other help, and show the words only as a later support. Present 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
Step 3 moves from sentences to short stories. Each story is four sentences long, such as Marcus planting a sunflower seed by the kitchen window or Ben and Rosa building a blanket fort in the living room, and it is read aloud with the words hidden. Three fact questions follow, so the student has to keep the whole story in mind and find the detail each question asks for, including why questions where the answer is stated in the story.
What to listen for
Watch for answers taken from the wrong part of the story, such as answering the where question with something from the first sentence. Note whether why questions are harder than who and what, which is common. If the student needs every story replayed, try asking them to make a picture in their head while listening. Track the number of replays as well as the answers.
Carrying it home
At home, tell a short story about your day in three or four sentences and ask one who, one where and one why question. Read a picture book page aloud without showing the pictures first, then ask what happened. Let your child tell you a short story and quiz you back.
What's in this activity
- When did they go to the lake?
- Saturday morning
- Sunday night
- After school
- What did they bring?
- A fishing pole
- A net
- A boat
- Why did Jada laugh?
- Her dad fell
- A frog jumped
- The water was cold
- What did Marcus want to grow?
- A sunflower
- A tomato
- A rose
- Where did he put the pot?
- In the garage
- By the kitchen window
- Under his bed
- When did the sprout come up?
- The next day
- After a year
- After two weeks
- Why was the bus late?
- Because of the snow
- It had a flat tire
- The driver was sick
- Who read a story?
- The bus driver
- Ms. Patel
- A student
- What was the story about?
- A lost puppy
- A big storm
- A bear who could not fall asleep
- What did they build the fort with?
- Blankets
- Boxes
- Sticks
- Where did they build it?
- In the backyard
- In the living room
- At school
- Who fell asleep in the fort?
- Ben
- Rosa
- The cat
Questions
- Who is this for?
- Students in grades 1 through 3 who are ready to answer fact questions about a short story they hear rather than read.
- How does the listening part work?
- Each question has a Listen button that reads the passage aloud with the words hidden. The student can listen again, and you can show the words as a support. On a device with no voice the words appear so you can read them aloud yourself.
- Can I change the passages?
- Yes. Open it in the Activity Studio to edit a passage or a question, add your own, or reorder them, and the board keeps the listening button.
- Is it free?
- Yes. It plays free in the browser with no login. An account adds session data, goal scoring and assignment to a student.
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.