The document summarizes the retelling assignment the author did with two ESL students, a 3rd and 4th grader. While they were unable to complete it with the 4th grader, the 3rd grader was able to retell the story to his peer with some assistance from the author. The author provides three examples of the 3rd grader's retellings which show he was able to recall the events, particularly about the mockingbird, but lacked rich descriptive details in his retellings.

1. The students I did this retelling assignment with are both ESL students in the 3rd and 4th
grade class. Unfortunately, I was unable to complete the retelling with the 4th grader so I
continued with the 3rd grader who was just wonderful. At the beginning, I read the story to the
boys and then had them read it one time to one another. I then explained to them that one had to
retell the story while the other listens and helps out. At first they were a bit confused, so I had to
begin with an example. From then on, the boys understood what to do and just watching them
retell the story to one another was very interesting.
The three examples I am showing is the work of the 3rd grader. On the 1st and 2nd
retelling sample, there was hardly any linguistic spillover. One particular part he really recalls
was the mockingbird not saying anything to the iguana. This could be found on all three
retellings. The student was able to recall the events from the story. However, he was unable to
provide rich details in any of his details.
1st Retelling

2. 2nd Retelling

3. 3rd Retelling