How to build memory and teach nonfiction retelling

Our students struggle at comprehending informational text. Is is SO hard for them to remember details, and especially, to remember details in any sort of order. We love to use the One-Word Retell strategy. It helps them build up their memory and retell the story at the same time! 

First, I place sticky notes throughout the book. Each heading or section gets one. 

In each section the students use one sentence to describe who (or what) was on the page and what happened in that section. They then pick one word to remember the sentence. The section we were reading here is all about how germs start. So, we use start as our clue. 

After they finish reading the story all of the sticky notes are placed onto our One Word Retell sheet. There are numbers on the page to help the students keep them in order!  

After placing all of the sticky notes onto the sheet we use them to write a summary. They are basically writing the sentences they thought up, but only using the words to trigger their memory. 

As we use the strategy more and more they are able to gradually not use the sticky notes and can just retell the nonfiction story. They use the key words, but inside their brain! 

We love using sticky notes (our students do too!) and it's a great way to gradually build up their memory. If you would like to try this strategy out too you can get the One-Word Retell strategy here for free!