Wordless Book Narration
Generate a spontaneous narrative from a wordless picture book for language sampling.
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
Use the page prompts once and then stop using them. Their job is to establish what a complete narrative includes; the three whole-story cards at the end are the target, and a student who is prompted page by page every session never produces a narrative of their own. The final card — adding what characters are thinking — is the most advanced and is where mental state language appears.
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 prompts that walk a student through a wordless picture book and then hand it over: page one, who is here and where are they; page three, something changes, what is the problem; page four, what does the character decide to do; page six, how does the character feel and how can you tell; then tell the whole story start to finish without stopping, retell it with first, then, next and finally, and tell it again adding what the characters are thinking.
What to listen for
This is a language sample as much as an activity. Count utterances, clauses per utterance and story grammar elements on the unprompted retell, since that is a clean spontaneous sample. Watch for the internal response, which the page prompts supply and which usually disappears when they are withdrawn.
Carrying it home
Any picture book works, and a wordless one works best. Asking a child to tell the story rather than reading it to them takes the same time and does considerably more.
What's in this activity
- Page 1: Look at the whole picture. Who is here and where are they?
- Page 2: What is happening now? Tell it in complete sentences.
- Page 3: Something changes. What is the problem?
- Page 4: What does the character decide to do?
- Page 5: What happens when they try?
- Page 6: How does the character feel here? How can you tell?
- Page 7: How does it end?
- Now tell the whole story start to finish without stopping.
- Retell the story using 'first, then, next, finally'.
- Tell the story again, but add what the characters are thinking.
Questions
- What grades is this for?
- Third through seventh, for narrative production and language sampling.
- Do I need an account?
- No, all ten prompts play free.
- Why a wordless book?
- Because it removes the text. There is nothing to recall or decode, so every word the student produces is their own — which is exactly what a language sample needs.
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.