Curriculum › Grade 1 › English Language Arts

Retelling Stories and the Central Message

  • Grade 1
  • English Language Arts
  • RL.1.2
  • Reading: Literature
  • Free lesson

Aligned to RL.1.2 — Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.

What this lesson teaches

Retelling means telling the important parts in order. Many stories also teach a lesson — the central message.

Worked examples

Example 1

Retell 'The Tortoise and the Hare': the hare races ahead, naps, and the steady tortoise wins. Lesson: slow and steady wins the race.

Example 2

Retell 'The Little Red Hen': nobody helps her plant, grind or bake, so nobody gets bread. Lesson: you share in the work if you want to share in the result.

Example 3

A retelling is short. If yours takes as long as the book, you are reading it again instead of retelling it.

Practice questions

  1. Retell a story you know in three parts.
  2. What lesson does the story teach?
  3. Which event happened first, next, and last?

Watch the lesson

Every lesson comes with a video taught in English and Spanish — the same video the QR code in the printed workbook opens.

▶ Watch this lesson

En español

Recontar cuentos e identificar el mensaje central

Recontar significa decir las partes importantes en orden. Muchos cuentos también enseñan una lección: eso es el mensaje central.

Ejemplo 1: Recuenta 'La tortuga y la liebre': la liebre corre muy rápido, se echa a dormir y la tortuga constante gana la carrera. Lección: el que es constante y perseverante llega lejos.

Ejemplo 2: Recuenta 'La gallinita roja': nadie la ayuda a sembrar, moler ni hornear, así que nadie recibe pan. Lección: si quieres compartir el resultado, compartes el trabajo.

Ejemplo 3: Un recuento es corto. Si el tuyo tarda lo mismo que el libro, lo estás leyendo otra vez en vez de recontarlo.

More Reading: Literature lessons

Who? What? Where?RL.1.1Who, Where, What HappensRL.1.3Feeling WordsRL.1.4Story or Facts?RL.1.5Who Is Talking?RL.1.6Look at the PictureRL.1.7

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