Ask, Retell, Understand

Overview

Lesson 8 of 16 in Empowered English: Tuarere Tahi. Students learn that good readers ask questions before, during and after reading, then retell the most important ideas in order. Use a short, engaging picture book or teacher-created narrative about a child showing courage, kindness or responsibility.

Learning intentions

• WALT ask and answer questions to help us understand a text.
• WALT use pictures and words to make meaning.
• WALT retell the important parts of a story in the correct order.
• WALT listen and respond respectfully to others’ ideas.

Success criteria

• I can ask a question about a story.
• I can answer a question using evidence from the words or pictures.
• I can say or draw the beginning, middle and end.
• I can leave out details that are not important.

Curriculum links

• Listening, reading and viewing: make meaning from texts by using prior knowledge, vocabulary, illustrations and text features.
• Speaking, writing and presenting: share ideas clearly, retell events and respond to others.
• Comprehension strategies: predict, question, clarify, make connections and summarise.
• Learner agency and participation: contribute ideas, listen to different perspectives and explain thinking.

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–5 minutes – Connect and introduce

Welcome students to the reading circle. Open with the hook question and picture and ask: “What might be happening? What makes you think that?” Accept oral responses, gestures and home-language connections. Explain that today readers will become “question detectives” and “story retellers”.

2. 5–15 minutes – Teach questioning

Show the question detective slides. Model three useful question times: before reading (“What might happen?”), during reading (“Why did the character do that?”) and after reading (“What was the big idea?”). Demonstrate thinking aloud with the cover and first illustration, including how to answer with evidence: “I think this because I can see…”

3. 15–27 minutes – Shared reading

Read the selected picture book aloud, pausing at two or three planned points. Invite students to turn and talk about a prediction, a wondering and a connection. Record a few student questions on the board or in the shared-reading question slide. Prompt students to look carefully at both illustrations and words before answering.

4. 27–37 minutes – Build a retell

Revisit the story with the beginning-middle-end slide. As a class, orally retell the text using the prompts: “First…”, “Next…”, “Then…” and “Finally…”. Ask: “Which events must we keep so someone else understands the story?” Contrast an important event with a small detail, such as what a character ate or wore.

5. 37–50 minutes – Partner response

Pair students strategically and distribute the differentiated story retell and questions sheet. Students draw or write three key events and answer one question from each section: before, during and after reading. Partners take turns explaining an answer and pointing to the picture, words or remembered event that supports it. Younger students may dictate responses to a partner or adult; older students should add a sentence explaining the big idea.

6. 50–56 minutes – Share and improve

Invite three or four pairs to share a retell or question. Use the share-and-check slide to remind students to check: Is it in order? Is it important? Does it help us understand the text? Model revising one example by removing an unimportant detail or adding a missing event.

7. 56–60 minutes – Plenary and assessment

Display the exit reflection slide. Students complete the oral stem, “A good reader asks ___ because ___,” then tell a partner the story in three short parts. Collect worksheets and note one strength and one next step for each student or group.

Resources

• the complete reading comprehension teaching deck
• the differentiated story retell and questions sheet
• A suitable picture book or short narrative text
• Whiteboard and markers
• Sticky notes or small paper squares for student questions
• Pencils, crayons and optional clipboards
• Prepared mixed-ability pairs and a quiet reading space

Assessment

• Listen for students asking relevant questions and explaining answers using words, pictures or remembered events.
• Check worksheets for a logical beginning, middle and end, with increasing selection of important details.
• Record observations for students who need support with sequencing, vocabulary, oral language or giving evidence.

Differentiation

• Support: pre-teach two or three key words with gestures and pictures; offer sentence stems such as “I think ___ because ___” and “First ___, then ___”; allow drawing, oral response or scribing.
• Support for EAL learners: rehearse answers with a partner, accept home-language discussion before English sharing, and use repeated story language and visual sequencing prompts.
• SEN/access: provide a reduced-choice version with three picture boxes, read the text again in a small group, and seat students where illustrations and teacher modelling are easy to see.
• Extension: ask students to write their own “why” or “how” question and explain the story’s message using two supporting details.