Retell and Adapt Stories
When you retell a story, you say what happened in your own words, in the right order. A good retell has a beginning, a middle, and an end, and uses the characters (who) and events (what) from the story. You can also adapt a story by imagining a new ending or changing one part, like swapping the main object — as long as the new story still makes sense.
Worked examples
Story: 'Maya planted a seed. She watered it every day. Soon a sunflower grew tall.' What happened first?
First Maya planted the seed, then she watered it, then the sunflower grew. The first event is 'Maya planted a seed.'
How could you adapt this story?
Change one part and keep the rest matching — for example, change the sunflower to a bean plant.
Tips
- •Tell the events in order: beginning, then middle, then end.
- •Only include things that really happened in the story.
- •When you adapt a story, change one part but keep it making sense.
Key words
retellorderbeginningmiddleendadapt