Retell rubric and retelling instruction

By the IEP Atlas editorial teamLast updated November 1, 2026

Short answer

A retell rubric scores each part of a retell on the same scale every time. Use 0 to 2 points for characters, setting, problem, events, resolution, order and story words, for 14 points in all. Score the free retell before any prompts, record prompted parts separately, and graph the free score. The fill-in rubric and a scored example are below.

A retell rubric turns "she retold the story pretty well" into a number a team can graph. Each row is one part of a good retell. Each part gets 0, 1 or 2 points under a written rule, so two adults scoring the same retell land on the same total.

Below are a fill-in narrative rubric, an informational version, a completed example from a fictional student, notes on what reviewers and parents look for, and a short routine for teaching retelling. For goal wording, see IEP goals for retelling a story. The pillar on reading comprehension strategies places retell among the other strategies.

Fill-in story retell rubric

Copy this table onto the rubric scoring data sheet or a blank page. Fill in the story title, date and level at the top. Write what the student said in the last column, close to word for word.

Part	0 points	1 point	2 points	Score
Characters	None named	Main character only, or "a boy"	Main character by name plus one other who matters
Setting	Not mentioned	Place or time	Place and time, or a setting detail that matters to the plot
Problem	Not mentioned	Vague ("something bad happened")	States the problem clearly
Events	None, or unrelated	1 or 2 key events	3 or more key events
Resolution	Not mentioned	Partial or unclear	States how the problem was solved
Order	Random	Mostly in order, one swap	All events in order
Story words	No words from the text	1 word or name from the text	2 or more story words used correctly
Total				/14

Add a line under the table for prompts. Note each prompt you gave ("Who else was in the story?") and which part it produced. Score the free retell for the goal. Prompted parts tell you what the student knows but could not organize alone.

Informational retell version

Informational text has no characters or plot, so the rows change. Use this one for science and social studies passages.

Part	0 points	1 point	2 points
Topic	Not stated	Stated as one word	Stated as topic plus point
Main ideas	None	1 of the passage's main ideas	2 or more main ideas
Supporting details	None	1 detail tied to a main idea	2 or more details tied to main ideas
Structure	No signal of how ideas connect	Some linking words	Uses words that fit the structure (first, because, however)
Accuracy	Major errors	One error	No errors
Total			/10

Students who retell informational text by listing random facts usually score 1 on main ideas and 0 on structure. That pattern points to text structure teaching. The text structure signal words page has a template for it.

Completed example: one probe, scored

Maya is a fictional 3rd grader. In October she reads an unpracticed grade 2 story of about 300 words. A girl named Rosa loses her kite in a tree at the park. She asks her brother for help. They try a broom, then a ladder, and finally the wind blows the kite down.

Maya's free retell, word for word: "Rosa had a kite and it got stuck. Then her brother came. They got a ladder. Then it came down. The end."

Part	Score	Why
Characters	2	Rosa by name, plus her brother
Setting	0	Park not mentioned
Problem	1	"It got stuck," without the tree
Events	1	Brother came, ladder; broom left out
Resolution	1	"It came down," without the cause
Order	2	Events she named are in order
Story words	1	"Kite" only
Total	8/14

Prompts: "Where were they?" produced "at the park." "What made it come down?" produced "the wind." Both go in the prompt line, not the score.

The pattern tells the teacher what to teach. Maya orders well and names characters. She drops setting and the cause of the resolution. Her next lessons use a story map with a setting box and a "how was it solved" box.

After 3 probes like this one (scores of 8, 7 and 9), her baseline is a median of 8 out of 14. Her goal sets 12 out of 14 on 3 consecutive probes by the annual review.

What reviewers and parents look for

The header. Reviewers check that the passage level and the date are written down. A score of 12 on a grade 1 story and 12 on a grade 3 story mean different things.

Characters and setting. Parents often ask why setting matters. It is usually the easiest row to gain points on, and it shows whether the student notices where and when a story happens.

Problem and resolution. These two rows show whether the student understood the story as a story. A retell that lists events with no problem is a list, not a retell.

Order. Reviewers look for a written rule here. "Mostly in order" needs a definition, such as one swap allowed.

Story words. This row catches students who retell in vague terms ("the thing," "he did stuff"). It also links to vocabulary goals.

The prompt line. Parents find it useful to see what the child said alone and what they said with help. It shows both the skill and what support works.

The total. Report the total with its denominator every time: 8 out of 14, not 8.

How to teach retelling in four steps

Teaching story structure is one of the recommendations in the What Works Clearinghouse guide on comprehension in kindergarten through grade 3.^[1] Story structure teaching was also among the strategy types the National Reading Panel reviewed.^[2] Retell is where that teaching shows up as a score.

Model with a short story. Read a picture book aloud. Retell it yourself while touching each box of a story map or each icon on a retell card. Say the part name out loud: "The problem was..."
Retell together. Read a second story. The student fills one box and you fill the next, then switch.
Retell with the card only. The student retells using the icons, with no boxes to write in. Prompt only by pointing to a skipped icon.
Retell cold. The student retells with no card. Score this one on the rubric.

Keep stories short at first, 150 to 300 words, so memory load does not swamp the skill. Move to longer texts once the student scores 10 out of 14 or more on two probes.

Scoring tips that keep the data steady

Use the same rubric for every probe all year. A changed rubric resets the graph.
Record or write the retell as the student says it. Score afterward, not while listening.
Use unpracticed stories at one level. A story the class discussed yesterday is a memory task.
Score a few retells with a colleague early on. If your totals differ by more than 2 points, tighten the rules for the rows you disagreed on.

Rubric scoring explains how to report rubric data on a progress report. For narrative goals that an SLP may own, see narrative language goals and the retelling goal hub. If you need to build a rubric from scratch for a different skill, how to create a rubric for IEP goals walks through it.

Frequently asked questions

Should I score a retell before or after prompting?

Score the free retell, before any prompts, and use that score for the goal. Then prompt for missing parts and note what each prompt produced. The prompted parts show what the student knows but could not organize alone.

How long should the story be for a retell probe?

Start with 150 to 300 words at the student's instructional level. Keep the length and level the same across probes. Move to longer stories when the student scores 10 out of 14 or more on two probes in a row.

Can I use the same rubric for informational text?

Use a different one. Informational text has no characters or plot. Score topic, main ideas, supporting details, structure words and accuracy instead, for 10 points in all.

Use it in IEP Atlas

Sources

Improving Reading Comprehension in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade, What Works Clearinghouse, Institute of Education Sciences
Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching Children to Read, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

Written and checked by the IEP Atlas editorial team under our editorial policy. This guide describes general practice and federal rules. It is not legal advice; your state may add requirements, and the IEP team makes the decisions for each student.