Issues w/retelling a story/narrating

[sbgrace]

One of my kids (first grade this year, with some special needs) has issues retelling a story with a beginning, middle, end. He can usually answer questions I ask about what we've read and I do believe he's comprehending based on his reactions to what he hears and reads, questions he asks, etc. However, he can't seem to retell things in a way that I believe a ending K/starting first grade child would. When I ask what happened at the beginning of a short reading (say two page chapter) he launches into maybe the main point, the end, or whatever detail caught his attention in the story. If I have him retell one section at a time even then I might have to lead him "and then...." "Next, he....." etc.

 

Ideas?

[texasmama]

I have one like this. (He has a learning disability.) We are repeating WWE2 this year to cement the concepts (particularly the narration).

 

That said, your ds is still pretty young and I wouldn't be overly concerned about what you describe at this level/age. When my son would struggle to answer questions or narrate, I broke down the reading passage into paragraphs, reading one at a time and asking questions pertaining to that one paragraph rather than asking his brain to retain everything in a five paragraph or more reading before answering all of the questions.

 

(I'm no narration expert, but that is what has worked for us, gradually and with a lot of effort.)

[Kirch]

I see you're using HOD--are you using Little Hearts for His Glory? We used that for K, and I thought the beginning narration exercises (under "Storytime") were good for building narration skills. So if that's what you're using, those should help some.

 

You could also try finding or making story sequence cards for stories you read and have him put the cards in the right order and then tell the story back to you while looking at the cards. He might just need a little extra tangible help in organizing his thoughts at this point. That, and lots of modeling and practice!

[VBoulden]

My daughter sometimes needs coaching with narration, especially when the story is longer than a page and there are more than two characters (which is just about every story, right? ;)). I try not to be discouraged when I have to ask her, " What happened next?" to keep her on track, jog her memory, etc. She's going into first grade, too. I've tried to avoid asking her to narrate the longer stories with the more involved plots. She does well with fables, since they are usually very, very straightforward. With the longer stories, she can understand them and answer questions, etc. but retelling them from start to finish gets tricky. (And, come to think of it, retelling a story like that might be tricking for me, too. I should try it...) I wouldn't be overly concerned about your son. I'd just keep chugging away. I think it's okay if the stories they narrate are the "easiest" of all the ones we are reading, because as they get older and ALL the stories get more involved, progressively, they will get better at narrating those stories, too, progressively. So, good luck. :D

[specialmama]

:iagree: with all the others. Don't sweat it, it is a process and your dc is well on their way. The sequence idea with cards is excellent. I'd also just chill a bit; perhaps you say the beginning, leave a few blanks and together summerize the ending.