What Is Retelling?

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Feature Menu
What Is Retelling? Why Use Retelling? Retelling
Tips Use the Strategy Practice the Strategy
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What is retelling?
Retell simply means tell again.
The author of a story or novel tells the story
once as he or she writes it.
You tell the story again when you use retelling
as a reading strategy.
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What is retelling?
Retelling is not just stringing all the events of
the story together with and then . . . and then
. . .
Thats what young children do when they give a
summary of a story. Listen to this.
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What is retelling?
When you retell a story, you create a summary of
the storynot just a list of events.
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Why use retelling as a strategy?
Retelling helps you

• identify main events in the plot

• keep events in order

• understand how the events are related

Retelling is especially useful for long stories,
stories with complicated plots, and stories that
switch back and forth in time.
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Start by retelling the title and author.
The story is a version of the fairy tale
Rumpelstiltskin written by Rosemarie Künzler.
Identify the characters.
The main characters are the millers daughter and
an odd little man named Rumpelstiltskin.
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Explain the conflict, or main problem.
The millers daughter has been locked in a room
by the king because the miller boasted that she
could spin straw into gold. The king has
threatened her with death if she doesnt perform
this miracle by the next morning.
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Tell the main events, keeping them in order.
First, the millers daughter is in despair, but
then a little man appears and offers to do the
work. He wants to be paid, so she gives him her
necklace, and he disappears. The king is pleased,
but after that, he locks her in an even larger
room filled with even more straw.
Use words like first, next, then, later, and
finally to help keep everything in order.
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Use words and phrases like but, however, or on
the other hand when something contradicts
something else that has happened.
The next night, the little man appears again, and
the young woman gives him her ring in payment.
The king says he wants to marry her. However, she
has to spin gold for one more night. The little
man appears again and asks to be paid, but she
has no more jewelry. He asks for her first child
after she marries the king.
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Explain how the story ends.
Finally, her eyes are opened. She does not want
to marry the king. Additionally, she has no
intention of giving up a child. As a result of
her refusal to pay, the little man becomes angry
and stomps his foot so hard that the door pops
open. The millers daughter escapes.
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Tell what you liked or didnt like about the
story.
I like the ending of the original story of
Rumpelstiltskin better. In the original story,
the millers daughter saves her child by guessing
the little mans secret name. This version
doesnt even talk about his name.
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As you read Dragon, Dragon, stop at each
open-book sign and think about what you
have just read.
Stop and think.
Answer the question.
Sometimes part of the retelling will be done for
you. At other times, you will do the retelling.
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We heard a story called Lillys Purple Plastic
Purse by Kevin Henkes. The story takes place
mostly in a kindergarten class. The main
characters are Lilly, a girl who is in
kindergarten, and her teacher. The story begins
when Lillys grandmother gives her a beautiful
purple plastic purse for her birthday. Next,
Lilly takes her special purse to school. Then she
wants to play with it, but her teacher tells her
to put it away.
What parts of the Retelling Guide are included in
this first paragraph?
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What parts of the Retelling Guide are included in
this first paragraph?

• Introduction
• title and author
• where the story is set

• 3. Conflict
• whats keeping the main character from getting
  what she wants

• 2. Characters
• names
• how characters are related
• what the main character wants

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We heard a story called Lillys Purple Plastic
Purse by Kevin Henkes. The story takes place
mostly in a kindergarten class. The main
characters are Lilly, a girl who is in
kindergarten, and her teacher. The story begins
when Lillys grandmother gives her a beautiful
purple plastic purse for her birthday. Next,
Lilly takes her special purse to school. Then she
wants to play with it, but her teacher tells her
to put it away.
What words are used in this retelling instead of
and then?
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We heard a story called Lillys Purple Plastic
Purse by Kevin Henkes. The story takes place
mostly in a kindergarten class. The main
characters are Lilly, a girl who is in
kindergarten, and her teacher. The story begins
when Lillys grandmother gives her a beautiful
purple plastic purse for her birthday. Next,
Lilly takes her special purse to school. Then she
wants to play with it, but her teacher tells her
to put it away.
What words are used in this retelling instead of
and then?
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Now retell Dragon, Dragon. Be sure to think
about how you will connect the storys main
events.
Avoid the word and. Instead, use some of these
first next then later finally
additionally furthermore as a result
following that after that in conclusion
Use the Retelling Guide on page 16 in your
textbook to organize your retelling.
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As you listen to your partner retell the story,
decide whether he or she covers each item a
little, to some extent, a lot, or not at
all. Use the Retelling Checklist to rate your
partners retelling of Dragon, Dragon.
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• Retelling Checklist
• Name Text
• Does this retelling . . .
• have a good beginning that states the title,
  author, and when and where the story takes place?
• tell who the characters are and how they are
  related to one another?
• include the main events?
• keep those main events in the correct sequence?
• explain how the main conflict, or problem, is
  resolved?
• provide any personal comments about the story?

0 Not at all
1 A little
2 Some
3 A lot
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The End