As we meet with teachers around New England to analyze various assessment data (Dynamic Reading Assessments, conference notes, running records, and informal retellings), we notice a pattern — retelling the important parts of a story is difficult for many elementary students. We have the privilege of working in many districts, and find it interesting when there are common patterns and concerns about student learning across districts.
Common Observations about Student Retelling
The assessment data we’ve analyzed from numerous districts includes a population of students who are decoding with 95-100% accuracy, but struggle to retell the important parts of the text. When we take a closer look at the data, it appears that some of these students become overly focused on insignificant details in the text and miss the overall plot, while other students omit major events.
We conferred with a few of the readers who struggled and asked, “What do you do when you know you will need to retell the story?” Some students responded that they try really hard to remember everything. We questioned further, “What do you do to ‘try really hard’ to remember?” We got some puzzled looks and a few shoulder shrugs. It seems that these students do not know what they should be focusing their attention on, or what is important to remember. In addition, they do not have strategies to help them remember.
Here are some strategies we have been using to help students recognize what is important to remember, and how to remember and organize important information for a retelling.
Teaching Students to Use Previewing as a Strategy
Since the students couldn’t express the strategies they used to remember a text, the teachers we work with decided to watch and notice what strategies the students used when they began reading a new text. We were wondering whether these readers actually previewed before reading so that they would have an overall sense of the text.
As teachers observed, they noticed that some of the same students who had difficulty retelling skipped any type of picture walk or previewing strategies that they had been previously taught. They simply began reading the text on the first page.
As we think and plan with teachers about how to teach students to retell the important parts of a text, we realize that teaching retelling doesn’t begin once students have finished the book. Students need to think about how to focus on the important parts of the text before they begin reading and while they are reading, in order to have an overall sense of the text. We want students to understand how getting a bigger picture of what they were reading will help them focus, and thus make it easier to retell.
Thinking About Genre When Previewing
When we read a newspaper, we expect most articles to provide facts organized in a “who, what, where, when and why” format. When we begin a new mystery we anticipate that there will be a problem (usually a crime of some type), and then the characters will work to unravel the mystery. The genre of the text helps us to anticipate how the text will be organized, and how the plot will unfold.
Many students are not using genre to help them anticipate the structure of the text, and subsequently what type of information is important to remember and retell. When students preview a text, one thing we want them to ask themselves is, “What type of text is this and what do I know about reading it? What am I reading?” A student might approach a text and think, “Oh, this is a folktale. I know that folktales usually have a few characters, a setting, a problem, a solution, and often a lesson.” Just knowing the genre enables a student to preload a lot of information for a retelling.
When approaching a nonfiction piece, we want students to think and say to themselves, “This is nonfiction. I am going to learn some new information. Let me look through the text and figure out what are the big categories I will learn about.” A child who is unsure of the genre of a particular book might think, “I don’t know what genre this is. Let me read a bit and think about that.” This type of active thinking will help students recognize the important information to remember in any text they are reading.
Thinking about Retelling Before Reading
This lesson helps students learn how to use previewing as a strategy for determining the important parts of the text. By helping the students anticipate the plot structure, we improve their ability to remember and retell.
We begin by modeling with several simple texts from the teachers’ classroom libraries. Instead of reading the book to the students, we model how to preview a text and to think about what might be important to remember before reading. We make sure to focus on genres that the students had already had experience reading, because we want to emphasize how readers use their knowledge of the genre and topic to think about the important parts of the text.
Here is a sample lesson that we tried in a second grade classroom. For this lesson we selected the text Library Lion
During this lesson, we do not read the text, but focus solely on previewing strategies.
Name the Strategy: Readers, I have noticed that when many of you are reading your books, you are reading the words accurately. But sometimes when you finish a text it is hard for you to remember the important parts of the text and retell the story. Today I am going to teach you one strategy to help you figure out the important parts in the text and believe it or not this strategy begins before you even start reading the first page. When a reader previews a text, they ask themselves a few questions:
1. What do I already know about this book?
2. What genre is it?
3. What will be important to remember?
When readers preview the text and think about what they know, it helps them understand what will be the important parts to remember so that retelling is a bit easier.
Demonstrate the Strategy: Watch me preview this text and notice how I am figuring what will be important just by previewing. I am going to read the title, look through the book, read the front flap and the back cover. Now, I ask myself, “What do I already know about this book? What genre is it? What will be important to remember? [As we talk, I create a chart of our thinking.]
What do I already know about this book?
I know that the main characters are probably a lion and Miss Merriweather. It tells me that right here on the front flap. I also know that this story takes place in a library and that something terrible is going to happen in the library. I think it will be about breaking the rules because on the front flap it says, “but when something terrible happens. . .”
What genre is it?
I know this is fiction. Real lions are not in libraries. I know that fiction stories have a character, setting, problem and solution.
What will be important to remember?
As I read this book, I am going to pay attention to the characters, the setting, the problem and the solution. This way will help me remember the important parts and make retelling easier.
Guided Practice: Readers, now it is your turn to try to preview a text to learn how previewing can help you figure out what will be the important parts of the text to remember. Please choose a new book from your book bag and work with your partner to preview the text. I want you and your partner to preview one text together and ask yourselves our questions:
1. What do I already know about this book?
2. What genre is it?
3. What will be important to remember?
Remember, when readers preview a text they learn what will be important to remember. I am going to listen in as you work with your partners.
Independent Practice: If you are beginning a new book in reader’s workshop today, please remember to preview the text because it will help you figure out the important parts to remember.
We know this initial lesson oversimplifies the complexities of genre and previewing, but we plan further instruction to expand students’ knowledge in later weeks. Right now we want to focus on how to use their existing knowledge of genre and topic to enhance understanding. In later lessons, the teachers will repeat this lesson with a variety of different texts, and continue to have students practice and talk with their partners.
In next week’s conclusion to this series, we’ll present a video of another lesson that teachers might use as part of an instruction progression on retelling.
