The Copycat Fish

We read The Copycat Fish by Marcus Pfister and then the students retold the story in order as a class using a Flow Map. The students then individually retold the story on a foldable focusing on the beginning, middle, and end. They also colored a Rainbow Fish to go along with their work.

 

 

Fred and Pete at the Beach

We read Fred and Pete at the Beach by Cynthia Nugent to practicing retelling stories in order. As a class, the students retold the events on a Flow Map using Interactive Writing. With Interactive Writing, each student gets a chance to write while the rest of the class helps them with word order, spelling, and punctuation.

Lisa's Daddy and Daughter Day

We read Lisa's Daddy and Daughter Day to practice making predictions and retelling a story. Before reading, we took a picture walk and charted the students' predictions. After reading, we checked off the predictions that were true and wrote down the text evidence that supported the prediction. We then retold the story on a Flow Map. The students individually created a foldable to retell the beginning, middle, and end in their own words.

We're Going on a Bear Hunt

To practice retelling a story in order, our class and Mrs. Francis' class went on a "bear hunt." We went outside to the garden and read "We're Going on a Bear Hunt." After reading, we learned motions to go along with the story and acted out retelling the story.

BME: The Princess and the Pea

After reading ThePrincess and the Pea, the students retold the story on a Flow Map using the Promethean Board. Then, individually, they wrote what happened at the beginning, middle, and end in their own words on strips of construction paper. After completing the retell, they glued the strips of paper on a larger piece of construction paper and added brown bed posts to recreate the Princess' bed with the stacks of mattresses. They then added on pea (a green hole punch) to the bottom of the mattresses.

BME: Jack and the Beanstalk

The students wrote to the beginning, middle, and end of Jack and the Beanstalk on a three-flap foldable. I often use this same type of foldable in guided reading and Daily 5 time to have the students work on their retelling skills.

BME: The Emperor's New Clothes

After reading The Emperor's New Clothes, the students wrote what happened at the beginning, middle, and end of the story on a Flow Map on the Promethean Board. Then using the class Flow Map for support, they retold the story in their own words on a three flap foldable.

The Berenstain Bears' Trouble with Pets

We recently read The Berenstain Bears' Trouble with Pets to practice retelling stories including the beginning, middle, and end. The students retold the story on a three-flap foldable and then illustrated each part.

Comparing Stories

As a part of our story of fairy tales and recurring phrases we read Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood. After reading, the students compared and contrasted the two stories and we charted their comparisons on a Double Bubble Map.

A Visit From Aunt Rose

After reading A Visit From Aunt Rose by Patrsy Bevcar, the students retold the beginning, middle, and end of the story on a foldable.

Blueberries for Sal

In reading we are working on retelling stories including the beginning, middle, and end. We recently read Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey. As a group we summarized and charted what happened in the story. The students then created a three flap foldable to illustrate and write to retell the story.

David Shannon: Comparing Stories

After reading Toy Many Toys and A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon, we discussed how the books were the same and different. We charted the student responses on a Double Bubble Map. The students then completed a Venn Diagram independently to compare the stories.

Using the Venn Diagram for help, the students created a four-tier foldable to identify one way that the two stories were the same and then something that was different yet related.

A Bad Case of Stripes

As a part of our author study on David Shannon, we read A Bad Case of Stripes. After reading, we created a class chart to write down our discussion about the characters, setting, problems, and solutions found in the story. The students then created their own Story Maps on construction paper to put the elements in their own words.

The next day we reread the story focusing on retelling the story from beginning, middle, and end. The students then created a three flap foldable to write and illustrate a retelling of the story in their own words.

Too Many Toys

As a part of our author study on David Shannon, we read Too Many Toys. After reading and discussing as a class, the students created a Story Map independently to write about the characters, setting, problem, and solution of the story.

The next day, after rereading, the students created a three-flap foldable to retell the story from beginning, middle, and end.

The Foolish Tortoise

As a part of our study on author and illustrator Eric Carle, we read The Foolish Tortoise. As we read, we discussed and charted the characters, setting, problem, and solution. The students then created their own Story Maps on construction paper to identify and write about the information.

The next day we read the story again but this time we focused on retelling the story from beginning, middle, and end. The students then created a three-flap foldable to retell the story.

How the Milky Way Came to Be

In reading, we read the Cherokee tale of "How the Milky Way Came to Be." In this tale, a family was collecting cornmeal to store for the winter when they noticed it was going missing. The mom and dad told the children that it had to be "Great Dog" who was from another world. Knowing that he would continue to steal, the parents and villagers knew they had to scare away "Great Dog" with drums. When they did, he retreated to the sky in fear leaving a trail of cornmeal behind which turned into stars. After reading, we made connections back to the constellations that the students had made and then the students retold the story on a foldable.

The Emperor's New Clothes

Last week we read The Emperor's New Clothes and the students again created a foldable to retell the story in their own words. This story is pretty complex for first grades but they did a good job!

The Princess and the Pea

Last week we read The Princess and the Pea in order for the students to practice retelling the main events. The students then created foldables to write and illustrate what happened in the beginning, middle, and end of the story.