Retelling¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 1 claim (1 for) · 2 studies (2 quant-synthesis), q3 · 1 of 2 report an effect size

Description¶

Retelling asks learners to reconstruct a narrative or informational text in their own words after reading or hearing it — identifying characters, setting, problem, and resolution, or main ideas and supporting details, in a coherent sequence. It can be oral, written, or dramatized, and is typically scored against the text's story grammar or idea structure to reveal what was comprehended, sequenced, and omitted.

Design Implications¶

Retelling is a generative task: reconstructing a text from memory requires the learner to reorganize and restate content, which produces stronger comprehension and recall than rereading or answering recognition questions Retelling improves comprehension and recall relative to reading alone. [+M]. Because the retell must be produced, it also functions as a formative assessment — omissions, inversions, and intrusions diagnose specific comprehension breakdowns rather than a single score. Retelling quality depends on an internalized text structure; explicit teaching of story grammar or informational text structure before retelling substantially improves retell completeness [+M].

Context¶

Requirements¶

• A text with a clear structure (narrative story grammar, or main-idea/detail organization for expository text)
• Prior instruction in the target text structure, so learners know what a complete retell includes
• A rubric or checklist (characters, setting, problem, events, resolution; or main ideas with support) used by teacher and learner
• Low-stakes conditions — retelling before an evaluative audience suppresses output

Constraints¶

• Weaker for texts with low narrative structure or dense unfamiliar vocabulary; learners with limited accessible vocabulary retell surface details rather than ideas [~M]
• Retells of poorly understood texts can consolidate misreadings if no feedback follows — retelling without teacher response risks rehearsing errors [-M]
• Repeated retelling of the same text yields diminishing returns once the account is fluent; benefits come from the first generative effort, not from polishing performance [~W]
• English learners may have comprehension that outstrips their production language; oral retells in the second language can underestimate understanding [~M]

Implementation Variability¶

• Oral retell — fastest, richest diagnostic; use one-to-one or in pairs
• Written retell — adds composition load; better after oral retells are fluent
• Dramatic retell — learners act it out; supports younger learners and embodied comprehension
• Partner retell with checklist — peers score each other against the story-grammar checklist, doubling practice volume
• Cumulative retell — retell after each section of a longer text, then a whole-text retell

Target Learners¶

• Beginning and developing readers in K–3 building narrative comprehension [+M]
• English learners, when paired with visuals or first-language retell options [~M]
• Struggling readers who answer literal questions correctly but cannot organize a coherent account — the retell exposes sequencing and integration gaps
• Less diagnostic for advanced readers with strong automatic comprehension; use written summary or analysis instead [~W]

Target Learning Goals¶

• Narrative comprehension: identifying and sequencing story elements
• Expository comprehension: distinguishing main ideas from details
• Oral language production and academic vocabulary use
• Self-monitoring: noticing what one cannot recall prompts rereading [+M]

Instructions¶

1. Read or hear the text; briefly activate relevant background knowledge (Activation).
2. Name the retell frame in advance ("Tell who, where, the problem, what happened, and how it ended") so learners read with a structure in mind (Advance Organizers).
3. Learner retells without the text in view; listener records elements on the checklist rather than interrupting.
4. Compare the retell to the text: identify omitted, misordered, or invented elements.
5. Learner rereads the specific sections where gaps occurred, then re-retells — the gap, not the whole text, drives the second pass.
6. Extend with Class Discussion on interpretive questions once the literal retell is secure.

Related Strategies¶

• Dialogic Reading — the adult-prompting counterpart for pre-readers; PEER sequences and CROWD prompts scaffold early retells
• Summarization — retelling's expository sibling; summary requires selection and compression, retell requires completeness
• Think-Aloud — during reading, whereas retelling is after reading; both externalize comprehension
• Story retelling with familiar picture books to practice sequencing

Examples¶

• Reading Recovery — each lesson ends with the child retelling a newly read book while the teacher records the retell on a running record, using omissions to select the next teaching point.
• DIBELS Oral Reading Retell — standardized retell scoring (words recalled per idea) used for progress monitoring in U.S. elementary reading interventions.
• Story retelling in bilingual preschool programs — children retell picture-book stories in both languages, using the story-grammar frame to transfer comprehension across languages.

Key Sources¶

• Gambrell, L. B., Pfeiffer, W. R., & Wilson, R. M. (1987). The effects of retelling upon reading comprehension and recall of text information. Journal of Educational Research, 80(4), 216–220.
• Morrow, L. M. (1985). Retelling stories: A strategy for improving young children's comprehension, concept of story structure, and oral language complexity. Elementary School Journal, 85(5), 647–661. doi:10.1086/461427
• National Reading Panel (2000). Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
• Brown, H., & Cambourne, B. (1987). Read and retell. Heinemann.