Reading comprehension involves understanding what is read. One way to ensure comprehension is through retelling or summarizing, which extracts the main idea and supporting details. When retelling, it is important to consider the characters, setting, problem, attempts to resolve the problem, resolution, and outcome. Various tools like story maps and graphic organizers can help with retelling a story by organizing these key elements.

1. Reading Comprehension
Summarizing

2. Summarizing
• Reading Comprehension is important so that
we understand what we read.
• One way to make sure we comprehend what
we read is to retell what we read.
Have you ever retold a story?

3. Retelling is a way of summarizing.
It’s important because it extracts the essential
information of a text:
• the main idea
• the supporting details

4. Retelling
In order to retell, you need to think about the
major elements of the text. These include:
• Characters
• Setting
• Problem
• Attempts to resolve problem
• Resolution
• Outcome

5. Tools
You may use different tools to help you retell the
story.
Maybe you’ve seen some of these?

6. Story Map
or

7. Graphic Organizer
or

8. Story Time
Sit back and listen to the story that I will read.
…

9. Retelling with a Story Map
I thought about the:
• characters
• setting
• Problem
• Resolution

10. Retelling with a Story Map
Then, I used a story map to retell this story.

11. Story Time!
Sit back and listen to the story that I will read.

12. Retelling
Your turn!
Choose one of the graphic organizers to retell
the story that you just heard.