Read the story. Circle the sentence that tells the story best.
Read this first
Grandpa's Garden
On a warm spring Saturday, Lily helped her grandpa in the backyard garden. They dug a long row and planted bean seeds. Lily wanted to grow her own food. Grandpa promised that the beans would be ready by summer.
1.
Grandpa's Garden
Lily and her grandpa planted beans in the garden.
Lily helped her grandpa on a Saturday.
Lily and her grandpa picked ripe beans in the summer.
The Lost Ball
Tess kicked her ball over the neighbor's fence. She peeked through the gate, but she could not see it. Then she knocked on the door, and the neighbor handed the ball back.
2.
The Lost Ball
Tess peeked through the gate.
Tess climbed the fence to get her ball back.
Tess kicked her ball into a neighbor's yard, and the neighbor gave it back.
The New Puppy
Nina got a small puppy named Pip. After dinner each night, she practiced in the front yard. She held a treat up high and said, "Sit." Nina wanted a well-behaved pet, and soon Pip sat every time.
3.
The New Puppy
Nina got a puppy named Pip.
Nina trained her puppy Pip to sit by using treats.
Nina's puppy would not learn to sit, however hard she tried.
To retell a story is to tell what happened in your own words, in order and with the important parts. A good retelling is short, and it names the main character, what happened and how it ended. A weak retelling tells only one small detail, such as where the story began, or it gets the ending wrong. Second graders practice retelling because it shows whether they understood the story as a whole and not just a few words.
This worksheet prints three short stories, one at a time. After each story there are three sentences, and the child circles the sentence that retells the whole story best. One sentence tells only a detail, one has a wrong ending and one gives the main events. Ask your child to retell the story aloud first and then to find the sentence that sounds most like their retelling.
What your child will learn
Tell what happened in a story in order
Tell a retelling from a single detail
Check the ending against the story
Common Core standard: RL.2.2
Worked example
Story: Leo's kite gets stuck in a tree and his dad frees it with a pole. The best retelling is Leo's kite got stuck in a tree, and his dad freed it with a pole, because it tells the problem and how it ended.
Common mistake
Choosing a sentence that is true but tells only one detail, such as where the story began.
Helpful hint
Which sentence tells the whole story, from the problem to the ending?
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