What Is Story Comprehension?
A child's ability to create and retell a story using characters, emotions, and structure.
How Can I Teach This At Home?
Playing
1. Give children the opportunity to lead play as a way to tell their own story.
2. Play the "Once Upon a Time" game where each person playing gets to add one sentence to the story! Begin with "Once Upon a Time...", and the next person follows with a sentence. Each person after adds one sentence at a time until the story ends!
Reading
1. Read wordless picture books with your child. Talk about the story together first, and then reread it so they can see the pictures telling the story.
2. Have your child read books and listen to other storytellers!
3. When you finish reading a book, ask your child, "Where did this story happen?".
4. In the middle of reading, ask your child, "What do you think will happen next?".
Singing
1. Include sound effects and music when you are reading and/or telling a story to your child! They will be more engaged with the story and will be able to more critically think and assess the information in the story.
Talking
1. Comment and expand on your child's sentences and stories as they tell them.
2. Tell your child stories! They will pick up on storytelling and narrative techniques.
Writing
1. Encourage children to draw a story through art.
2. Let children create their own books! There are many different ways children can create and tell their own story. Some templates can be found here.
3. Ask your child to tell a story while you write it. They will see how their words can translate to a written page!
Skills Checklist
Where Do I Start?
The Lion & the Mouse by Call Number: EASY PINKNEY/JUV 398.2 PINKNEYISBN: 9780316013567Publication Date: 2009
Need More?
The catalog for the Waco-McLennan County Library is available here!
If you want to search for more resources in our catalog in this subject, we suggest you search for the following subject headings:
For more assistance with searching and locating items held by the Waco-McLennan County Library, use our Ask a Librarian feature available on our catalog website or stop in to one of our branches!
The Waco-McLennan County Library provides patrons with access to resources through our Electronic Resources page, which can be found here. Suggested databases are listed below:
Did You Know?
Children's literature author Roald Dahl topped a poll in the UK in 2017 to be named the greatest storyteller of all time! With 58% of the vote, he beat out many other famous storytellers, including Shakespeare, Lewis Carroll, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Walt Disney.
Online Resources
There are many different online resources for early literacy - and we know it can be overwhelming. The following apps, blogs/newsletters, videos, and websites are some of the materials we would recommend to learn more about story retell & comprehension!
APPS
1. Imagistory
4. My Story School eBook Maker
BLOGS/NEWSLETTERS
1. Kids Konnect: Why Story Retelling Helps Kids Learn
2. Reading Rockets: Story Sequence
3. Red Apple Reading: The Importance of Story Retelling
VIDEOS
