How I Finally Solved the “They Can Listen, But They Can’t Retell” Problem

If you teach early years, you probably know this struggle well…

You read a beautiful picture book. The students are engaged. They laugh at the funny parts. They watch every page carefully. You finish reading and think, “Great! They loved that story.”

Then you ask…

“What happened in the story?”

And suddenly you get:

• Random events out of order

• One-word answers

• The entire class is shouting different things

• Or complete silence

I ran into this problem constantly in my classroom, especially with younger students. They enjoyed stories but struggled to retell them, sequence events, and explain their thinking. I realised they weren’t lacking interest; they were lacking the tools to organise their ideas.

The Moment I Realised What Was Missing

For a long time, I relied mostly on:

• Read aloud discussions

• Worksheets

• Asking verbal questions

But many students still found it difficult to explain what happened in a story. Some students needed visual support. Others needed to physically act out the story to understand it.

That’s when I started introducing hands-on retelling activities, and honestly, it changed everything.

Why Hands-On Story Retelling Works

Young learners often process stories better when they can:

✔ See the story visually

✔ Touch and move characters

✔ Act out events

✔ Use structured prompts

When students physically move characters and sequence events themselves, they naturally begin to understand story structure.

How I Solved That Problem

I created this Very Hungry Bear companion pack specifically to support students who struggle to retell stories and build comprehension skills. Instead of relying on a single activity, this pack supports multiple learning styles.

Visual Learners

Students use:

• Large character cut-outs

• Story sequencing picture cards

• Story sliders

• Story maps

These help students visually organise events in the story.

Kinesthetic Learners

Students can:

• Use stick puppets

• Wear character masks

• Play with foldable characters

• Retell stories using a tuff tray setup

This allows students to physically act out and practise storytelling in a safe, fun way.

Oral Language Development

The pack encourages students to practise sequencing language such as:

• First

• Next

• Then

• Finally

Students build confidence speaking about texts while working with peers or teachers.

Literacy Skill Development

The pack also supports structured literacy learning through:

• Sentence building activities

• Noun, verb and adjective sorting

• Writing responses

• Comprehension worksheets

This helps students move from oral retell → written understanding.

The Difference I Started Seeing

Once I began using these types of activities, my students:

✔ Became more confident storytellers

✔ Started using sequencing language independently

✔ Could explain story problems and solutions

✔ Became more engaged during literacy centres

✔ Showed stronger comprehension during assessments

Even quieter students began participating because they had visual and hands-on supports to guide them.

Here you can see a student using the story sliders to retell the story.

My Favourite Way to Use This Pack

One of my favourite setups is using a tuff tray storytelling station. Students use puppets and characters to retell the story while matching sequencing cards. It becomes a play-based literacy centre that feels like play but builds very strong comprehension skills.

If You’re Seeing This Problem In Your Classroom…

If your students:

• Love listening to stories, but struggle to explain them

• Need support organising story events

• Learn best through hands-on experiences

• Need confidence with oral language

…this style of resource can make a huge difference.

Final Thoughts

Story retelling is such an important foundation skill. When students can retell stories clearly, it strengthens comprehension, vocabulary, writing skills and overall literacy confidence.

Sometimes students don’t need more worksheets; they just need more ways to experience stories.

This pack was designed to give teachers practical, engaging tools that make story comprehension visible, interactive and enjoyable for young learners. Take a look at this pack at the link below.

The Very Hungry Bear | Lessons Activities Story Retell Comprehension Writing

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