Retell

Effective readers use retelling to transform a text into their own words, phrases
and ideas after reading, listening or viewing. Retelling requires readers to
organise key information and then prepare to share with others. Students
engaging in retells review all they know about the text; select key points; and
consider key events, problem, solution, characters and setting.

Retell is considered a bridge to summarising. It involves selecting important

information, making connections and sequencing ideas/events in detail.
Summarising on the other hand requires the reader to discern between
unimportant information in order to elicit the main idea and most important
details.

How does retell support reading and comprehension?

Retell promotes reading and comprehension as it allows the reader to reflect on and reorganise important
information while enhancing oral language. Retell enables readers to process what they have read by thinking
about the text, sequencing ideas/events and considering their importance, and sharing this with others.

Paraphrasing aligns with retell but requires students to use their own words to tell and/or explain what they have
read. Retell utilises visualising and questioning comprehension strategies and readers use and build upon their
ability to retell when they summarise and synthesize.

The Language of retell

Text connectives e.g. at the beginning, next, Language of numerical order, e.g. First, second
adjacent to, however, finally, for example etc. etc.

This page/book was about …

Reading this page I learned …

Retell helps us to become skilled readers because Use prompts, e.g.:

we learn:
that if we can’t how to check we how to better Can you tell me What makes What else can
retell we need to understand what understand the you tell about the
read the text again we have read/ author’s words more? you say that?
text/character/
viewed/heard and ideas topic?

Tips to support retell

Use knowledge of the Retells can be shared orally,
narrative structure, e.g. in a written form, as a
beginning, middle, drawing or through
The end, as well as Draw on drama, e.g. puppets,
information pictures and important role of TV
for the retell key words to points and presenter.
comes directly support events and retell
from the text, e.g. the according to the
knowledge of text sequence in which
type, vocabulary used, retell. information is presented.
sequence of main events or
important ideas.

Adapted from Zimmermann, S. (2003); Hoyt, L. (2009); Mills, K. (2009); Cameron, S. (2009); Davis, A. (2011); Miller, D.
(2013) and First Steps Reading resource book (2013).
 Strategies
Hot fire Retrieval chart
Pass around an object
(e.g. a ball). Whoever holds Include headings and subheadings to
the object continues the retell main points in informative and
retell before passing it persuasive texts.
on. The object passed round is the
hot fire.

What is important
Focus: (e.g. Characters or Events)

Least important Moderately important Most important

1 2 3 4

Describing words to justify ranking:

Talk about your rankings:

Visual images
Retell through Visual Images, e.g. the first
image I have is of the setting, the second
image is of the character.

retell through the eyes of a character

Text:

Author:

Main Character:

What happened first?

What happened second?

What happened next?
Then what happened?

Adapted from Zimmermann, S. (2003); Cameron, S. (2009) and First Steps Reading resource book (2013).