What Is Story Retelling and Why Use It?

Story retellings require the reader or listener to integrate and reconstruct the parts of a story. They reveal not only what readers or listeners remember, but also what they understand. Retellings build story comprehension.

A wealth of research shows that reading aloud to young children supports specific aspects of their literacy development. The kinds of learning experiences that occur before, during, and after reading aloud have an equally important impact on literacy development. As far back as 1976, Zimiles and Kuhns suggested that the comprehension of six- to eight-year-olds significantly improved when they were asked to retell a story after it was read to them.

Studies by Blank and Frank (1971), Zimiles and Kuhns (1976), and Morrow (1984, 1985, 1986) asked children to recall sections of a text or whole stories and examined the instructional benefits. Each study found a significant improvement in oral language complexity, story comprehension, and understanding of story structure.

In story retellings, readers or listeners tell what they remember about the story orally or through dramatization, drawing, or writing (Morrow, 1989; Owocki, 1999). Retelling does not mean memorizing—it means recounting the story in the child’s own words. Retellings require children to think more conceptually—to look at the bigger picture—rather than answering specific questions about the text. Retelling also helps learners internalize information and concepts, such as vocabulary and story structure (Brown & Cambourne, 1987). The more experience children have with retelling, the more they are able to understand, synthesize, and infer. “Retelling is grounded in an understanding of the crucial role that oral language plays in both the formation and sharing of meaning“ (Gambrell, Koskinen, & Kapinus, 1991).

This article will provide tutors with:

• Ways to use story retelling to build reading comprehension
• Descriptions of tutor roles in retelling sessions
• A variety of retelling activities
• Strategies for assessing reading comprehension through story retelling

Using Story Retelling To Build Reading Comprehension