solves the problem or resolves the conflict.
To have students retell or recount stories, including fables and folktales:
As you read aloud, introduce students to different types of stories, such as realistic stories, adventure stories, graphic novels, folktales, and fantasy stories. Give students opportunities to discuss them and then compare and chart the attributes of the different types.
After a story has been read a couple of times, demonstrate how to retell/recount it. First, explain that a retell/recount involves an opening statement, followed by key events listed in sequential or chronological order, and a conclusion. Have students practice retelling/recounting stories orally by working with partners and then sharing with the class.
Engage students in an activity called “Story Bookends,” in which a story is read aloud and then students decide on the problem the main character is experiencing (the left bookend) and the resolution (the right bookend). Two students then illustrate the bookends on separate pieces of chart paper. Next, engage the entire class in a discussion of the “events” that should go in the middle, and ask for volunteers to represent or stand in for each “event.” Line up the students representing the two “bookends” and the “events” in the front of the classroom in chronological order and have them describe how the problem is resolved.
To have students identify the main topic of an informational text and recall key supporting details:
Help students understand that by attending to the title and the front and back cover illustrations, readers can get a general sense of what a text is about.
Direct students to pay close attention to section titles, words in bold, and illustrations before, during, and after they read.
Help students identify words that are repeated frequently, since these often refer to the key details the author wants readers to know.
To have students identify the focus of a specific paragraph within a multiparagraph text:
Teach students what a topic sentence is and how it most often comes at the beginning or end of a paragraph.
Think aloud your process for noticing special vocabulary or repeated/related words that provide clues to the main topic, such as eat, meal, plants, diet, and feeding in a paragraph whose main topic is “what deer eat.”
Give students practice in locating topic sentences and identifying the details that support them. Project a paragraph on a whiteboard, think through with students’ help what the topic sentence might be, and then underline or annotate the key details.
To help your English language learners, try this:
Bring in actual bookends (realia) to help make the “Story Bookends” activity more concrete.
Make certain that students understand the academic vocabulary you’re using, such as the terms main character, problem, and resolution.
Have students work in small groups to practice retelling stories orally. Use pictures as props to help students’ retellings. Encourage students to act out the stories.
Have students work in small groups to practice sharing main ideas and details orally from nonfiction text. Use pictures as props to help them describe the main topics and supporting details, pointing to the text as appropriate to show where in the text the information is presented.
Developmental Debrief:
Since teaching students to summarize officially begins in third grade, we do not address this skill per se in this K–2 volume. However, retellings/recounts are on the developmental continuum leading toward students eventually learning to summarize in later grades.
In K–2 classrooms, it is advisable for students to talk about the central message in a piece of literature rather than try to determine its “theme,” a concept that’s more appropriate for students in grade 3.
Notes
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Grades K–2 Common Core Reading Standard 2: Academic Vocabulary: Key Words and Phrases
Analyze their development: This refers to the careful and close examination of the parts or elements from which something is made and how those parts affect or function within the whole to create meaning.
Central ideas: Some ideas are more important to a work than others; these are the ideas you could not cut out without fundamentally changing the meaning or quality of the text. Think of the “central” ideas of a text as you would the beams in a building: They are the main elements that make up the text and that all the supporting details help to develop.
Central message, lesson, or moral: This relates to what the author thinks is right or the proper way to behave. In upper elementary grades, this is often referred to as the theme. Generally, in fiction, the message/lesson/moral addresses the author’s point of view about relationships between people.
Fables: These are legendary stories of supernatural happenings or narratives that attempt to impart truths (often through morals)—especially in stories where animals speak and have human characteristics.
Folktales (and fairy tales): Folktales are short stories that were first passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth. These tales typically have to do with everyday life, with a character of poor and humble origins triumphing over a wealthier, more powerful superior. Fairy tales are a subgenre of folktales that include magical elements or creatures, such as dragons, goblins, and elves. The entire folktale genre generally reflects or validates certain aspects of the culture or group.
Key supporting details and ideas: Key details and ideas support the larger ideas the text develops over time and are used to advance the author’s claim(s). Since not all details and ideas are equally important, students must learn to identify those that matter the most in the context of the text.
Main topic: This refers to what an informational text is all about (e.g., how animals prepare for winter). The main topic is the most important or central idea of a paragraph or of a larger part of a text. It’s what the author wants you to remember most.
Retelling or recounting stories, including key details: Retelling/recounting involves giving an oral account of the key details of a story. This typically includes an opening statement, a chronological listing of key events, and a concluding statement. (Even though retell and recount have slightly different meanings, we use them
