Story Retell: Tell It Back in Order
Retell tasks for a story the student has just heard, each card constraining the retell differently so the same story yields several distinct samples.
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
Read or tell a short story first — the cards work with any story. Start with the straight retell card so you have a baseline, then choose constraints that match the goal: the five-then-one card for summarising, the first, then, after that card for sequence words, the middle-only card for the problem-to-solution structure. The leave out one event card works well in pairs, because the partner has to spot the gap. Fifteen minutes covers three or four retells of the same story.
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
Ten retell tasks for a story the student has just heard, each constraining the retell a different way: name the character, the place and the problem first; retell in five sentences, then in one; retell as the main character; retell only the middle; retell backwards from the ending; use first, then, after that and finally at least once each. One story gives you several different samples of the same child's narrative.
What to listen for
Listen for the character, setting and problem at the start; students who skip them often start with the most exciting event. Watch whether events stay in order or come out as a list of things that happened. On the one-sentence version, notice what the student keeps. On the backwards retell, listen for whether they can still link each event to the one before it, and on the last card, whether they can name what the character wanted.
Carrying it home
After a bedtime story, ask for it back in three sentences — beginning, middle, end. The next night, ask for it as the character would tell it. Same book, different job.
What's in this activity
- Retell the story you just heard from the beginning. Name the character, the place and the problem before anything else.
- Retell the same story in five sentences, then in one sentence. Say what you had to leave out.
- Retell the story as if the main character were telling it. Keep every event in the same order.
- Retell only the middle of the story: everything between the problem and the solution.
- Retell the story to somebody who has not heard it. Stop whenever they look confused and fix that part.
- Retell the story, then say what happened right before the ending and right after it.
- Retell the story leaving out one event on purpose. See whether your partner can name the missing piece.
- Retell the story using “first”, “then”, “after that” and “finally” at least once each.
- Retell the story from the ending backwards to the beginning.
- Retell the story, then answer: what did the character want, and did they get it?
Questions
- What grades is this for?
- First through sixth grade.
- Does it include the story?
- No. The cards are retell tasks; you bring the story, so any book or passage you are already using works.
- Is it free?
- Yes, all ten cards play in the browser with no login. An account adds session data and goal scoring.
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.