In grades 1-3, retelling is a skill that needs to be practiced and refined with a variety of genres, and with books of different lengths. As students begin to explore chapter books, retelling becomes more challenging. Students need to determine the importance of events in the plot to synthesize longer story lines. Creating a story board for retelling Freckle Juice will challenge students to decide what is essential. Similar to a "five finger retell", students need to think critically about the events in order. The storyboard option will also give students the opportunity to explore characters in more depth, using speech bubbles.
Consider having students plan their storyboard with a blank template prior to creating the full storyboard online. Students should begin with the retold narrative in each box before adding character dialogue. This will allow them to focus on the purpose of retelling without getting distracted by the details of the storyboard.
After students create their retelling storyboards, they can print and cut them out, then have a partner try to put the events in order!
(These instructions are completely customizable. After clicking "Copy Activity", update the instructions on the Edit Tab of the assignment.)
Student Instructions
Create a storyboard retelling Freckle Juice with six scenes: two from the beginning, two from the middle, and two from the end.
(You can also create your own on Quick Rubric.)
| Proficient | Emerging | Beginning | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Events | Each of the cells represents a different part of the story. The cells are in order from beginning to end. | One cell is out of order, or the storyboard is missing important information. | Important information is missing and/or two or more cells are out of order. |
| Images | Cells include images that accurately show events in the story and do not get in the way of understanding. | Most images show the events of the story, but some are incorrect. | The images are unclear or do not make sense with the story. |
| Descriptions | Descriptions match the images and show the change over time. | Descriptions do not always match the images or mention the importance of the event. | Descriptions are missing or do not match the images. |
| Spelling and Grammar | Spelling and grammar is mostly accurate. Mistakes do not get in the way of understanding. | Spelling is very inaccurate and hinders full understanding. | Text is very difficult to understand. |
