Teaching children narration

[EmmaGM]

My 1st grader started WWE, FLL, and SotW in January. All feature quite a lot of narration, which is a new skill to my son. This is not a skill I myself am very familiar with so I feel lost trying to teach him how to do it.

 

I read him the passage, ask him the questions given in the manual, and then ask him to tell me what the passage was about or what happened or what he remembers. Is this wrong?

 

So far he can almost never tell me. He gives me one word answers or says things like, "the king." I continuously ask him leading questions such as what about the king? What did the king do? Why? And then what happened? But it's like pulling teeth and I think I might be doing it wrong?

 

Please any insight or tips to help us both master this skill would be so appreciated.

 

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[Miss Tick]

I think what you are doing sounds good. Remember, you want them to master this skill by, what, 5th grade? You've got years to work on it. Leading questions are good. Don't be afraid to share some of the printed material that is in there for you. Just today I turned to my dd and said, "that was a guided summary. See how the prompt had you tell me in one sentence what the selection was about? Then you added some specific information to support that first statement." It was good to explicitly point that it.

 

You might try reading out the example narrations (I'm thinking WWE) and then discussing them. Is one better, how are they different, what did they both skip or include, etc.

 

Especially if he is struggling I would be more inclined to focus on that skill only in WWE. In FLL perhaps build one out loud with/for him. In SOTW just ask for one thing he remembers and then use leading questions to highlight the other important parts.

 

All three of these use the review questions to bring attention to important parts of the reading, do you could also mention that. Maybe have him pick three answers to connect into a summary of the passage.

 

In FLL or WWE you are allowed to break up the reading selection and ask questions as you go if he needs help remembering a long (for him) passage.

 

Make the curricula work for you!

Edited February 5, 2018 by SusanC

[knitgrl]

Simplycharlottemason.com has a small, free ebook that can give you some pointers on narration.

[Rachel]

Karen Glass just came out with a new book on narration, “Know and Tell†it has sample narrations from students of all ages. I’ve only read the first couple chapters so far, but it’s helpful. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1983560189/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1517870945&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=karen+glass+know+and+tell&dpPl=1&dpID=4150rg-7U2L&ref=plSrch

[HomeAgain]

I found for my son it was as simple as changing the wording of my question.  If I say, "now, you tell me the story!" he's more receptive to telling events in order, especially when we first started out.  We also used a lot of those picture-order activities to learn how to sequence events.

[nixpix5]

I found for my son it was as simple as changing the wording of my question. If I say, "now, you tell me the story!" he's more receptive to telling events in order, especially when we first started out. We also used a lot of those picture-order activities to learn how to sequence events.

Yep, this worked here too. Made all the difference.

 

Asking guiding questions is fine in 1st grade. It gets them focusing in on the main points of the story and learning how to sequence events. It really is a skill that takes some time. My DD is a Rockstar at it now in 2nd grade but in 1st it was a challenge. You can always just do a short passage and start there and gradually increase the amount you read.

[Hobbes]

Sometimes I found that if we were doing a full chapter of SOTW at one time (we usually do), it got overwhelming for my two to do all the questions and then a narration for all the sections. They got tired, even taking turns. So I'd often just chat through one section asking questions. Sometimes I even used to say a brief narration after they answered the questions, which gave them a model. Then for the next section I'd just say, "Tell me about William Penn." The variety seemed to help and I've found that answering questions in one area kind of warms up their minds for the next area. Sometimes I'll do that with even shorter chunks if things aren't clicking or if there's specific info I want them to catch.

 

I think it just takes a while to get in the groove, but it totally works - I can't believe some of the narrations they come out with now.

Edited February 6, 2018 by indigoellen@gmail.com

[fralala]

But it's like pulling teeth and I think I might be doing it wrong?

 

LOL. Nope.

 

Maybe he just needs to be drawn out more, because it's normal for kids at this age to give very poor or brief narrations, but if he is one of those children (like one of mine) who is just resistant to the idea of narration When I Say So, How I Say So in general, then do keep in mind that there other ways to approach the same skill.

 

I've found it helpful for my kid who is hugely resistant to the idea of narration to take more of a loose, Julie Bogart inspired attitude toward the whole thing. I have to catch her when she begins telling me about something-- something she loves, like a movie or a game she has played or anything-- and ask the kind of questions that help her describe to me precisely and accurately that which she wants to convey.

 

You might not need to do this, because your kid sounds like a perfectly normal little person who just needs to continue working at this skill. But I did want to mention the above because narration is not a one-size-fits-all skill, and like most things in homeschooling, it would be a mistake to assume that if you don't see some degree of growing willingness to try, there is something wrong with what your doing OR with your child.

[carriede]

I read him the passage, ask him the questions given in the manual, and then ask him to tell me what the passage was about or what happened or what he remembers. Is this wrong?

 

Are you using the WWE workbook or instructors guide?

 

I'm going through the WWE level 1 workbook with DD6 this year. It has questions for the teacher to ask the student and sample answers of what the student might say.

 

But for the entire level 1 program, the final "narration" prompt is: Tell me one thing you remember. It is NOT asking for a summary of the whole passage. This is an important distinction. Summarizing is a skill I'm working with DS8 on in Level 2. So the ENTIRE first level of the program is just whatever the kid wants to say about the passage.

 

I'd use that same formula for the SOTW narrations. Sure, use the questions in the book if your child can remember those details, but then just ask for one fact he remembers, not a summary of the whole chapter/section/paragraph.

[PeterPan]

The challenge with this is for you to notice whether this is an issue across settings or only one setting, whether there are ADDITIONAL things going on, etc. For instance, my ds has ASD and language issues, and if he answers with one word it's because he has language issues and needs some support with noticing the names of everything, noticing what the steps of the sequence were, etc. 

 

Can he tell you about his day? If he watches a movie or tv show and is really excited about it, can he tell you what happened? That's your real life application stuff you want to be doing. If he can do it there and NOT with his academic model, then maybe he's not attending, not engaged. 

 

If he can't do it in real life, then you back up and go ok, how much support do we need to get there, how far back do we need to go? My ds actually needed to go back to picture sequencing. A middle of the road step is to do beginning, middle, end, like what happened at the beginning of the model, the middle, the end. Another middle of the road support is graphic organizers. So you can make bubbles and have him draw. You can read the model, pause, and say now draw that in the first bubble. Then read some more and stop and have him draw for the 2nd bubble. Then finish the model and fill in the 3rd bubble. Now you go back and narrate using your bubbles. Picture supports. Once he can do it with picture supports, then you can start doing key words. 

 

I'm using a workbook series Spotlight on Reading that has a grade leveled sequence for summarizing. Going straight to WWE was too big a leap for my ds, and he needed that inbetween thing. As an 8-9 yo he was doing the 1/2 grade book in the series, and that really was challenging for him. That was AFTER we did a lot with picture sequencing. Now we do cut and paste sequencing of paragraphs.

 

Hopefully your ds just needs some more supports to see the structure and break it into chunks. You can model it, take turns. My main point is, don't be afraid to provide supports, lots of supports. The more supports you provide, meeting him right where he is, the better. Then he's a rock star and gets confident and you fade the supports and transition to more abstract supports like key words or outlining. Some kids can't even look at a picture and say what is happening in the picture. You have to back up to wherever he needs and meet him right where he is.

Edited February 6, 2018 by PeterPan

[LindaOz]

I find it helps to start speaking the narration myself and then stop at a significant word for the child to fill in - something obvious. Then I continue and stop for another word. I usually find that the child will gradually start filling in more than one word and may continue with the rest of the sentence or even more. When she runs out of words to say then i pick it up and continue on until I stop for another word. I've started a number of kids on narration this way and find it really effective.

 

HTH

Edited February 7, 2018 by LindaOz

[Bluegoat]

We do CM style narration, but i find it's helpful to start with books that are very simple to narrate.  Usually we use Aesop for first attempts, and I show them an example of me narrating the story.  And "tell me the story" seems to work much better than asking for a narration.

[HS Mom in NC]

Some kids need shorter, simpler readings at first and then when they have the hang of it you can work up to longer, more complex readings.

Edited February 12, 2018 by Homeschool Mom in AZ