Your Turn to Tell
What you need
- a picture book you've read together many times
How to do it
- Pick a book they know well and hand it to them.
- Ask them to tell you the story from the pictures, turning the pages themselves.
- Ask a question or two along the way: why did he do that? How does she feel now?
- Read the last page yourself to finish.
Why it matters
Telling a story they know from the pictures is remembering what happens and putting it in their own words.
What they're learning
- Retelling
- Remembering what happens, in order, from the pictures.
- Answering why
- "Because he was hungry" explains a part of the story.
- Feelings in stories
- Wondering how a character feels on a page.
What to look for
Notice them using words from the book in their own telling.
A tip
Let their version stand, even when it skips bits. You can read the real one another time.
Make it easier or harder
Easier: read it yourself and stop on each page to let them say what happens
Harder: ask them to change the ending and tell you the new one
