Retelling a story in order
English · Early Years · The School
Beginning, middle, end
Every story has a BEGINNING where we meet someone, a MIDDLE where something happens or goes wrong, and an END where it is sorted out. Retelling a story means keeping those three parts in the right order. Telling the end first spoils it, and telling the middle first confuses everyone.
Words that join it up
Order words hold a retelling together: FIRST, THEN, NEXT, AFTER THAT, SUDDENLY, IN THE END. Using them makes a retelling sound like a story instead of a list. "First the wolf came. Then he blew the house down. In the end the pigs were safe."
Who and where
Before retelling, say WHO the story is about and WHERE it happens. Those two things let a listener picture everything else. A story about three pigs and a wolf, in the woods, is already half told once you have said it — the listener knows what kind of story is coming.
Draw three pictures on separate cards for the three little pigs: straw house blown down, sticks house blown down, brick house standing. Shuffle them, then put them back in order and tell it with joining words: "FIRST the wolf blew down the straw house. THEN he blew down the sticks house. FINALLY he could not blow down the brick one." Now try telling it with the cards in the wrong order and hear why order matters.