English · First stories
Retell in order
Say the story again in three parts.
Stories have three parts
Every story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. The beginning tells us who is in the story. The middle tells us what happens. The end tells us how it finishes. When we retell a story, we say all three parts.
What happens in each part?
Beginning: We meet the people or animals in the story. Middle: Something happens or there is a problem. End: The problem is fixed or the story finishes. These three parts go in order, one after another.
Say it in order
When you retell a story, start at the beginning. Then say the middle. Then say the end. Don't jump around! If you tell the end first, people get confused. Keep the parts in the right order.
Use time words to help
Time words help us retell stories in order. Words like first, then, next, and finally show the order. First tells us the beginning. Then or next tells us the middle. Finally tells us the end.
Worked examples
1. Retell this story in three parts: A cat climbed a tree. It got stuck. A firefighter helped the cat down.
- Beginning: A cat climbed a tree.
- Middle: The cat got stuck up high.
- End: A firefighter helped the cat get down safely.
2. Retell this story in three parts: Sam planted seeds. The seeds grew into flowers. Sam picked the flowers for his mum.
- Beginning: Sam planted some seeds in the ground.
- Middle: The seeds grew into pretty flowers.
- End: Sam picked the flowers for his mum.
3. Retell this story in three parts: A bird lost her nest. She looked everywhere. She found it in the big oak tree.
- Beginning: A bird lost her nest somewhere.
- Middle: She searched everywhere to find it.
- End: She found her nest in the big oak tree.
Try it yourself
Retell this story in three parts: A dog found a bone. Another dog wanted it. They decided to share the bone.
Ready to test yourself?
Take a short topic test — every question maps to a syllabus point so you’ll see exactly which parts you’ve mastered.