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Retell with the Key Details is a free printable Grade 1 English worksheet on retelling a story without losing what matters, aligned to Common Core standard RL.1.2. It prints 2 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two pupils in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 8 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

Retell with the Key Details

RL.1.2

NameDate

Read the story, then answer the questions.

1.Read the text, then answer the questions.

The Blue Door

At the end of the lane stood a house with a blue door. Nobody had lived there for years. The grass grew as high as Tomas. One Saturday a van pulled up. A woman got out with a ladder and a tin of paint. By teatime the blue door was bright yellow. Tomas waved. The woman waved back. "I'm Nita," she called. "Come and see the garden when I've cut it."

  1. 1. How does the beginning of this story set it up?
  2. 2. Retell the story in your own words.
2.Read the text, then answer the questions.

The Last Lap

Dee was fast. She won every race at sports day, and she knew it. In the relay, she ran the last lap. Her team was behind. Dee ran so hard that her chest burned, but the other runner crossed the line first. Dee sat on the grass. Her team came and sat with her. "You made up ten metres," said Ali. Dee had not thought about that. She had only thought about losing.

  1. 1. Retell the story in your own words.
  2. 2. How does the ending change the story?

LessonPrint · RL.1.2 · Set 8 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Retell with the Key Details

Set 8. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. It shows the house empty and overgrown, so the change is a surprise. 2. An empty house at the end of the lane got a new owner, Nita, who painted the blue door yellow and waved to Tomas.
  2. 2.1. Dee ran the last lap of the relay from behind, did not win, and her team pointed out that she had made up ten metres. 2. It turns a loss into something Dee can be proud of.

More practice for RL.1.2

Retell a story with its key parts, and say what it was trying to teach.

Teaching this next? Retelling, and What the Story Teaches is the 40-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Grade 1 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to RL.1.2 of the Common Core State Standards for English language arts.