Retelling IEP goals
28 templates across 13 skills: narrative language & retelling, listening comprehension & auditory processing, sign language & visual communication, reading comprehension, auditory skills (Deaf & hard of hearing), math problem solving, grammar, syntax & morphology, social awareness & perspective taking, paragraph organization, written expression, articulation, vocabulary & semantics, expressive language. Open any goal to set the baseline and target from your own data, then print the matching data sheet.
28 templates · 13 skills · Pre-K, K–2, 3–5, 6–8, 9–12 · How we write and review goals
Top skills
The 8 most relevant skills, with sample goals. Numbers are illustrative; set targets from the student's own baseline.
Narrative Language & Retelling Speech & Language
Retell a familiar story with props or pictures
Retelling a familiar story with props
By the annual IEP review date, given the pictures or props from a familiar classroom story read at least three times, the student will retell the story with a beginning, a middle event, and an ending, using the props or pictures independently, earning a score of at least 5 out of 6 on a 3-part beginning-middle-end retell rubric scored 0 to 2 per part, on 3 of 4 consecutive biweekly probes, as measured by a defined scoring rubric collected every two weeks.
Retell the key events of a story in order
Retelling events in order
By the annual IEP review date, after listening to an unfamiliar story with five or six key events read aloud once, the student will retell the key events of the story in the order they happened independently with at least 85% accuracy on key events retold in order, across 3 consecutive weekly probes, as measured by opportunity-by-opportunity data collected weekly.
Listening Comprehension & Auditory Processing Speech & Language
Retell heard information in the order it was given
Restating information in order
By the annual IEP review date, after listening to 3 to 5 pieces of information in sequence (such as the steps of a simple recipe or the order of events in a short account), the student will retell the items in the order they were given independently with at least 85% accuracy on items retold in the correct position, across 3 consecutive therapy sessions, as measured by opportunity-by-opportunity data collected weekly.
Recap a mini-lesson's key point to a partner
Retelling key points of a lesson
By the annual IEP review date, at the end of a 5- to 10-minute whole-class mini-lesson, during a turn-and-tell with a partner, the student will tell a partner the teaching point and the first step of the task independently in at least 4 of 5 opportunities, on 3 of 4 consecutive weekly observations, as measured by direct observation collected weekly.
See all 40 listening comprehension & auditory processing goals
Sign Language & Visual Communication Vision, Hearing & Assistive Technology
Retell a story in ASL
Retelling in sign
By the annual IEP review date, after watching a signed story or a wordless picture book, during a recorded retell, the student will retell the story in ASL with the characters, setting, problem, events in order, and ending independently, earning a score of at least 12 out of 15 on a 5-row ASL retell rubric scored 0 to 3 per row, in 3 of 4 consecutive monthly probes, as measured by a defined scoring rubric collected monthly.
Reading Comprehension Reading
Retell a story with key elements
Narrative retell
By the annual IEP review date, after reading an unpracticed instructional-level narrative passage, the student will retell the story orally in sequence, including the characters, setting, problem, key events, and resolution without looking back at the text, earning a score of at least 8 out of 10 on a 5-element story retell rubric scored 0–2 per element, on 3 of 4 consecutive scored retells, as measured by a defined scoring rubric collected every two weeks.
Retell three facts from an informational read-aloud
Informational retell
By the annual IEP review date, after a read-aloud of a short informational book with photos, the student will retell the topic and three facts from the book in their own words independently, earning a score of at least 6 out of 8 on an informational retell rubric (topic 0 to 2, three facts 0 to 2 each), on 3 of 4 consecutive scored retells, as measured by a defined scoring rubric collected every two weeks.
Auditory Skills (Deaf & Hard of Hearing) Vision, Hearing & Assistive Technology
Retell a story heard by listening alone
Retelling by listening
By the annual IEP review date, given an unfamiliar short story read aloud with the reader's face hidden, the student will retell the story in speech or sign, including the characters, the problem, the main events, and the ending independently, earning a score of at least 9 out of 12 on a 4-row listening retell rubric scored 0 to 3 per row, in 3 of 4 consecutive biweekly probes, as measured by a defined scoring rubric collected every two weeks.
Math Problem Solving Math
Retell a story problem before solving it
Retelling a story problem
By the annual IEP review date, given a spoken or read-aloud one-step story problem within 20, the student will retell what happened in the story and what the question asks, in their own words, before solving independently in at least 5 of 6 trials, on 3 of 4 consecutive sessions, as measured by opportunity-by-opportunity data collected weekly.
Grammar, Syntax & Morphology Speech & Language
Include the target grammar form in retells
Target forms counted in a language sample
By the annual IEP review date, during a recorded retell of a short, unfamiliar picture story, transcribed by the SLP, the student will use To choose for the student: the target grammar form (such as regular past tense -ed) in each obligatory context in the retell independently with at least 80% accuracy on obligatory contexts for the target form in the transcript, in 3 of 4 consecutive biweekly samples, as measured by work-sample analysis collected every two weeks.
Keep verb tense consistent when retelling past events
Verb tense consistency
By the annual IEP review date, during 5 recorded retells of short past events (such as a field trip, a game, or a video watched last class), the student will retell the event keeping the main verbs in past tense from start to finish independently in at least 4 of 5 opportunities, in 3 of 4 consecutive biweekly probes, as measured by opportunity-by-opportunity data collected every two weeks.
Social Awareness & Perspective Taking Social-Emotional & Communication
Retell an event from another person's view
Retelling from another view
By the annual IEP review date, after a short story, video, or classroom event, when asked to retell it as another person involved, the student will retell the event from the other person's view, including what they saw, wanted, and how they were doing independently, earning a score of at least 7 out of 9 on a 3-row perspective retell rubric scored 0 to 3 per row, in 3 of 4 biweekly probes, as measured by a defined scoring rubric collected every two weeks.
All 13 skills
Every skill with goals for this group, by area. The number is how many of its goals are tagged here.
Speech & Language
Vision, Hearing & Assistive Technology
Reading
Social-Emotional & Communication
Retelling goals come from narrative language, reading comprehension, listening comprehension, and auditory skills, with a few in writing, math problem solving, and sign communication. They ask a student to tell back a story or information in their own words, with the key parts in order. Good goals name the text, whether it was read aloud or read by the student, the supports allowed (pictures, props, a story map), and what a complete retell includes. Story retells are often scored on a story grammar rubric for character, setting, problem, events, and ending, and informational retells count key facts. Keep the text length and level steady across probes, and accept retells in the student's stronger language or in sign when that fits the goal.
Matching data sheets
Each goal above links to the blank sheet built for its measure. These are the sheets this set of goals uses:
- Rubric trackerScores each rubric criterion and totals the score for each sample.Used by 14 goals here
- Opportunity trackerRecords each opportunity as independent, prompted, or not demonstrated.Used by 7 goals here
- Accuracy trackerNumber correct out of number attempted, with percent accuracy and support level.Used by 6 goals here
- Frequency & rate trackerCounts a defined behavior during a fixed observation period. Calculates rate when time is recorded.Used by 1 goal here
Frequently asked questions
How do I score a story retell?
Use a story grammar checklist or rubric that awards points for each part: characters, setting, problem, key events in order, and ending. Score the same parts each time so progress compares.
Should retell goals allow pictures?
Pictures or props are a good starting support. Name them in the condition, then fade them in later objectives toward a retell from memory.
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Count trials, prompts, and minutes live in the session; the graph and trend line draw themselves; progress reports are drafted from your data.