The Role of the Tutor in Retelling

Retelling is an active process that encourages children to reconstruct the text; it also allows for interaction between tutor and child. When necessary, help the child reconstruct the meaning of the text by using open-ended questions and lead-ins to facilitate recall. For example, if a child pauses and seems confused, ask, What happened next? If a child needs help detailing a main character, say, Tell me more about this character. Prompting children’s thinking helps them understand that, in retellings, the whole text is more important that any of its separate parts (Morrow, 1989).

Children who struggle with expressive language or memory problems may have difficulty retelling a story with sufficient detail. Though retelling may be more difficult for these children, it can still help develop their language and listening skills. They simply need more practice and additional time (Maria, 1990).

Knowing what to look for as a child retells text can help tutors determine areas of strength and those that need more support. The information gleaned from retellings can guide the tutor’s sessions with the child and help refine instructional goals. Comparing children’s retellings over time can provide insights into their comprehension progress (Cooper, 1993).

As children retell, ask yourself if they:

• Grasp the main idea of the story
• Can describe the main events with accuracy
• Tell the story sequentially (with a beginning, a middle, and an end)
• Use vocabulary or phrases from the text
• Activate prior knowledge to enhance understanding
• Are aware of the characters and settings
• Use details to enhance the retelling
  (Fountas & Pinnell, 1996)

Let’s return to Terrence and Marisa. Before Marisa starts retelling, Terrence repeats the directions, along with the prompt to pretend that he has never heard the story before. This helps her understand the need to provide enough detail for the listener to understand the retelling.

Marisa: OK, once there was a wolf who got tired of hunting some food so he wanted to … so he wanted to, um … so he decided he wanted to have some lamb for dinner, um. The wolf went to the, where the sheeps were … in the meadow, I think. And he pretended to be one. The first thing the farmer did was to get a lamb, but he didn’t get a lamb he got the fox, I mean … yeah. (Long pause.)

Terrence: Are you done?

Marisa: Yeah.

Terrence: Wow, you’ve included a lot of important information in your retelling.

After Marisa’s lengthy pause, Terrence confirms that she is finished. This is important, especially if retelling is new, as children will probably spend a few silent moments trying to recall information. Next, the tutor provides positive reinforcement. Instead of simply saying, “Great,” he acknowledges the child’s specific accomplishment.

Terrence: At the end of the story, did the farmer get a fox or a wolf?

Marisa: Oh, he got, I mean, the wolf.

Terrence: In the middle of the story, were the sheep in a meadow or in a pen?

Marisa: Oh, no, right, they were in the sheep’s pen.

To help Marisa elaborate and adjust some misinformation, Terrence offers lead-ins to provide additional structure.

Terrence: Tell me more about the wolf at the beginning of the story.

Marisa: Well, he was hungry.

Terrence: Yes, and …

Marisa: He said he didn’t like the farmer because he tries to shoot him all the time.

Terrence: And then what did the wolf do?

Marisa: Um, he had a plan.

Terrence: Tell me more about his plan.

Marisa: He wanted some sheep, I mean a lamb, to eat and he put on a disguise so the sheep wouldn’t know it was him.

Terrence: Was the wolf able to fool everyone with his disguise?

Marisa: Well, I think he fooled the sheep but he didn’t fool the, um, man, I mean, the farmer.

Terrence: Did the farmer know he was getting a wolf when he went to the sheep’s pen?

Marisa: Oh, no, wait, no the farmer was fooled until he tried to eat it.

Terrence uses leading or open-ended questions to get Marisa to elaborate on elements of the story that she cut short in her retelling. Her responses indicate that she understood the story but is still learning how to organize the information and retell it in a comprehensive manner.

What can the tutor learn from this retelling?

This child has a good sense of story structure. Her retelling had a clear beginning, middle, and end, and she retold the story in the correct sequence. However, she omitted many details, making it difficult for someone who had never heard the story before to follow it without asking questions. For example, Marisa did not mention that the wolf wore a disguise, an important element in the story. It is interesting that she left out the story’s setting; she used her prior knowledge to make sense of the story (i.e., she put the sheep in a meadow instead of a pen), but her visual image of the story’s setting remains vague or nonexistent.

How can the tutor help?

Retelling stories is a new experience for this child. Help develop her abilities by modeling retellings and asking her to retell regularly. In addition, helping the child visualize where the story takes place increases her understanding of setting and story structure.

A Variety of Retelling Activities