Story Retelling — Familiar Tale
Retell a familiar fairy tale using all 7 story grammar elements.
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
Name the six elements before the retell and count them afterwards. A number gives the student something concrete to aim at, and it makes the missing element visible without a judgement attached. Start with the tale the student knows best. The Boy Who Cried Wolf is the hardest here, because its problem is a consequence of the character's own repeated action rather than an external event.
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 familiar tales to retell with the full structure — who, where, problem, plan, action, ending: The Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Tortoise and the Hare, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, The Three Billy Goats Gruff, The Gingerbread Man, The Ugly Duckling, Jack and the Beanstalk, The Little Red Hen. The plot is already known, so the retell is about structure rather than memory.
What to listen for
Listen for the plan, which is the element most often missing. In The Three Little Pigs the plan is building a house of a particular material, and a retell that lists three houses without the reasoning has the actions and not the intent. Watch whether the student includes the ending as a resolution rather than simply stopping.
Carrying it home
Fairy tales are known by everyone in the house, which makes retelling them a shared activity rather than a task. Asking for one at bedtime, with a count of the elements, takes three minutes.
What's in this activity
- Retell The Gingerbread Man.
- Retell The Ugly Duckling.
- Retell The Little Red Hen.
- +7 more
Questions
- What ages is this for?
- Kindergarten through third grade, for narrative retelling.
- Is it free?
- Yes, all ten prompts play with no account.
- Why use stories the student already knows?
- Because it separates memory from structure. A retell of a new story tests both; a retell of a familiar one shows you exactly what the student's narrative structure looks like.
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.