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Retelling a Familiar Story

A 30-minute Kindergarten lesson on retelling a story with its key parts, using pictures to hold the order.

Retelling a Familiar Story is a free 30-minute Kindergarten English lesson plan for Common Core standard RL.K.2 — retell a well-known story in your own words, keeping the important parts. It is timed across 5 sections, gives the exact wording to use where the wording carries the meaning, names 3 misconceptions with the teaching move that addresses each, and ends with an exit ticket and a printable worksheet with its answer key.

Grade:
Kindergarten
Length:
30 minutes
Standard:
RL.K.2

Kindergarten · Reading: Literature

RL.K.2

With prompting and support, retell familiar stories, including key details.

Objective

Students will be able to retell a familiar story in order, keeping the parts that matter.

Students are successful when they can

  • Puts four story pictures in the right order.
  • Retells using first, next, then and at the end.
  • Includes the problem and how it was solved, and leaves out small details.

What you need

  • The story "The Little Red Boat" (in Teach), told twice the day before
  • Four large pictures from it: Ben makes a boat; the boat floats away; the dog swims after it; Ben hugs the dog and the boat
  • Cards: FIRST, NEXT, THEN, AT THE END
  • The printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan

The lesson

Warm-up — the wrong order

4 min
  1. Put up the four pictures out of order: hug, make, swim, float away.
  2. Tell the story in that order: "Ben hugged his dog. Then he made a boat. Then the dog swam. Then the boat floated away." Ask: "Does that sound right?"
  3. Fish for "No, he made the boat first!" and "The boat went away before the dog swam."

Teach — what has to stay in

10 min
  1. Read the story again: "Ben made a little red boat from a box. He took it to the river. He put it on the water, and it floated away! Ben was sad. His dog Spot jumped in and swam after the boat. Spot brought it back in his mouth. Ben hugged Spot and his boat. Ben said, Good dog!"
  2. Put the pictures in order with the class, placing FIRST, NEXT, THEN, AT THE END above them.
  3. Retell it using only the pictures and the cards: "First, Ben made a boat. Next, it floated away. Then, Spot swam after it. At the end, Ben hugged Spot."
  4. Ask: "What is the problem in this story?" Fish for "the boat floated away." "How was it fixed?" Fish for "Spot got it." Say: "The problem and the fix must always be in a retell."
  5. Add a tiny detail: "The box was a cereal box." Ask: "If I forget that, is the story still the same?" Yes. Say: "That is a small detail. We can leave it out."
“A retell has the beginning, the problem, the fix and the end, in order. Small details can stay home.”

Guided practice — retell to a partner

8 min
  1. Pairs get a small set of the four pictures, mixed up. They put them in order.
  2. Partner A retells, touching each picture and using the card words. Partner B checks: did they say the problem? Did they say the fix?
  3. Swap. Partner B retells.
  4. Listen in and ask one pair to retell for the class. Ask the class: "Did they keep the problem in?"
“Touch the picture. Say first, next, then, at the end.”

Independent practice

6 min
  1. Read the short story on the sheet aloud.
  2. Children number the boxes 1 to 4 to show the order, then draw or tell an adult the retell.

Close

2 min
  1. Hide one picture. Ask: "Which part is missing?"
  2. Fish for the name of the missing event and where it goes in the order.

What goes wrong, and why

Each of these is a reasoning error rather than carelessness. The fix addresses the reasoning.

Retells only the ending: "Ben hugged Spot."

Why: The last thing heard is the freshest, and a happy ending feels like the whole story.

Fix: Point to the FIRST card and ask: "What happened right at the start?" Build the retell forwards from there, one card at a time.

Retells everything in order, including the cereal box, the color of the river, and what Ben ate for breakfast.

Why: The child thinks a good retell is a complete one, and nobody has shown that some parts matter more than others.

Fix: Limit the retell to four pictures and four sentences. Ask of each detail: "If I leave this out, is it still the same story?"

Leaves out the problem: "Ben made a boat and Spot swam and Ben hugged him."

Why: The problem is a sad part, and children often skip it; without it the swim has no reason.

Fix: Ask "Why did Spot jump in?" The answer is the problem. Mark the problem picture with a star so it is never skipped.

If they are not there yet

  • Use three pictures: beginning, problem, end.
  • Retell together first, child joining in with each card word.
  • Act the story with a toy boat and a toy dog before retelling it.

If they finish early

  • Retell without the pictures, using only the card words.
  • Retell the story as Spot would tell it: "First, my boy made a boat."
  • Retell a different story the class knows, choosing the four parts yourself.

Exit ticket

Tell me "The Little Red Boat" using first, next, then and at the end.

What to look for: Four parts in order, including "it floated away" and "Spot swam after it." Only the ending: start from FIRST. All details with no order: limit to four pictures. No problem: ask why Spot jumped in.

Printable practice for RL.K.2

Free to print and copy, answer key included. Each sheet can generate a fresh set of problems for a retake.

Questions about Retelling a Familiar Story

How long does the Retelling a Familiar Story lesson take?

30 minutes, split across 5 timed sections: warm-up 4 min, teach 10 min, guided practice 8 min, independent practice 6 min, close 2 min. The minutes are stated per section and add up to the stated length, so the plan can be cut or extended at a section boundary rather than abandoned halfway.

Which standard does Retelling a Familiar Story teach?

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.2 — RL.K.2, Reading: Literature for Kindergarten: “With prompting and support, retell familiar stories, including key details.” In plain terms, retell a well-known story in your own words, keeping the important parts.

What do I need to teach this lesson?

The story "The Little Red Boat" (in Teach), told twice the day before, four large pictures from it: Ben makes a boat; the boat floats away; the dog swims after it; Ben hugs the dog and the boat, cards: FIRST, NEXT, THEN, AT THE END and the printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan. Everything listed is either ordinary classroom equipment or a free printable from this site — there is nothing to buy and nothing to prepare beyond photocopying.

What mistakes should I expect in this lesson?

Three, each a reasoning error rather than carelessness: retells only the ending: "Ben hugged Spot."; retells everything in order, including the cereal box, the color of the river, and what Ben ate for breakfast and leaves out the problem: "Ben made a boat and Spot swam and Ben hugged him.". The plan gives the thinking behind each one and the teaching move that addresses the thinking rather than the symptom.

How do I know whether the lesson worked?

The exit ticket asks: “Tell me "The Little Red Boat" using first, next, then and at the end.” Four parts in order, including "it floated away" and "Spot swam after it." Only the ending: start from FIRST. All details with no order: limit to four pictures. No problem: ask why Spot jumped in. That tells you whether the class needs a reteach or a thirty-second conversation before you plan tomorrow.

Is there a worksheet to go with Retelling a Familiar Story?

Yes — 1 printable RL.K.2 worksheet, linked at the end of the plan and free like the rest of the site. Each one comes with an answer key and 25 versions, so the practice after the lesson can be a different paper on every desk.

Is Retelling a Familiar Story free to use?

Yes. The plan, its printables and their answer keys are free to read, print and photocopy for your own class, with no account and no email capture. It was last reviewed on October 8, 2026. Please do not resell it or republish it as your own.

Last reviewed 2026-10-08. Aligned to RL.K.2 of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.