Kindergarten · Reading · week 29

Retell: Beginning and End

Retell a short story in two parts, naming what happened at the beginning and what happened at the end.

Every story has a beginning and an end. The beginning tells you how the story starts. The end tells you how it finishes.

After you read or hear a story, try telling it back in just two parts: first this happened, then this happened at the end.

📋 For the teacher
Teach it (10–15 min):
  • Ask "what happened first" and "what happened last" as two separate, simple questions.
  • Model a two-part retell yourself first with a story you both just read.
  • Keep the retell short. Two clear sentences is the whole goal this week, not a long summary.
  • Use a favorite, familiar book so the story content is not the hard part, only the retelling skill.
Talk about it:
  • What happened first in the story?
  • What happened at the very end?
  • Which part of the story was your favorite?

Mastery looks like: They correctly name what happened at the beginning and at the end of a short story after reading or hearing it.

Common stumbles: Naming an event from the middle instead of the true beginning or end; retelling the whole story in too much detail instead of just two parts.

See it visually

Interactive, spoken-aloud tools that show this idea in motion.

Story SequencePut events in order: first, next, then, last.try →
Homework for this lessonType it, write it with a stylus, or print it for pencil & paper.open →
Records attendance + 15 min of Reading for this learner.
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