Four-year-olds can often tell you how a story character felt long before they can draw it. In this activity, pre-K students retell a story in three parts: the beginning, the middle, and the end. With an adult's help, they choose what happens in each cell and change the child character's face to show how the character feels as the story changes. The adult writes the child's words in the caption starters: "First, ___." / "Then, ___. The child felt ___." / "At the end, ___. The child felt ___." Watching a face go from happy to sad to better makes it easy to see and talk about how feelings change during a story.
The three-cell template uses the same scene in every cell, with one child character already placed and animal characters ready to add, so children can focus on the story instead of building the page. The activity fits center time or a small group after a read-aloud about feelings, and it connects to the unit's feelings work and to retelling stories at the Library & Listening center. In the sample, a child builds a tall tower, the tower falls down, and a rabbit sits close and listens until the child feels better and builds again. Print the pages for the class showcase, or send them home so children can retell the story to their families. Children should keep drawing and writing on their own too; the storyboard is one more way for them to show what they understand.
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Due Date:
Objective: Retell a story in three parts and show how the character feels.
Student Instructions
After a read-aloud, page back through the book and pause at the beginning, the middle, and the end. At each stop, ask, "What happened here?"
Say first, then, at the end as you touch one finger for each part, so children have a simple way to remember the order.
Invite children to show the feeling on their own faces before they name it: happy, sad, mad, scared, or calm. Talk about what made the feeling change.
Put simple props, such as blocks and a stuffed animal, at the listening center so children can retell the story in order with their hands and bodies.
Show the template and think aloud as you fill the first cell: "First, the child built a tower. The child felt proud." Then let children choose what goes in their own cells.
When the pages are done, pair children up to retell their story using their three cells, pointing to each one as they talk.
Simple ideas include acting out a story with puppets or stuffed animals, putting three picture cards in order, retelling with props at a listening center, and making a three-part storyboard of the beginning, middle, and end. The best preschool retelling activities are short and hands-on, and they let children show the story before they have to tell it in full sentences.
Start with a short, familiar story and use the same three words every time: first, then, at the end. Hold up one finger for each part, or lay out three cards in a row, and ask, "What happened first?" Keep each part to one event, and read the same story several times so children can predict what comes next.
Retelling shows whether a child understood the story, not just heard it. It builds vocabulary, a sense of order, and the habit of speaking in longer sentences. When 4-year-olds retell, they also practice seeing things from someone else's point of view, especially when they talk about how a character felt at different moments in the story.
Pause during a read-aloud and ask, "How do you think they feel right now?" Point to the character's face and body in the picture, and invite children to make the same face. Offer a few feeling words, such as happy, sad, mad, scared, or calm, and ask what made the character feel that way.
Retelling means telling the events of a story in order, with some of the details. Summarizing means naming only the most important idea in a few words. Preschoolers learn to retell first, and a simple beginning, middle, and end retell is a good first step toward summarizing in later grades.
Make it smaller. Ask about one part at a time and offer choices: "Did the tower fall down or stay up?" Let the child point to pictures in the book or act out the part instead of saying it. Retell the story together first, then invite the child to add one word or one part on their own.
Yes. Retelling is about understanding the story, and children can show that in any language. Invite children to retell in their home language, with gestures, or with a mix of languages, and encourage families to retell favorite stories at home too. An adult can write a child's words in the caption in more than one language.
Suggest that families ask, "What happened first? Then what? How did it end?" after a bedtime story or a trip to the store, in the family's home language. A child's printed storyboard page is an easy place to start: "Tell me your story. How did the child feel at the end?"