Lesson 01 — Listening and Retelling in Order
Learners listen to a partner tell a short three-step happening and retell it back in the correct order, using first, next, and last to hold the story's shape.
Objectives
- D04.S1.02.01 Listen to a partner and retell what they said in the correct order.
Essential question
How do I listen to a partner and retell what they said in the right order?
Materials
Standard materials
- A short, simple happening to share · 1 A true story or a small how-to of three clear steps, in the home language
- Three-step retell cards · 1 set per pair Cards labeled first, next, last, with room to draw or write
Low-tech / no-cost
- Three small objects Stones, seeds, or sticks moved one by one as each step is retold
- A story told aloud from memory No book needed; a remembered happening of three steps
Enriched / lab & device
- A short recorded telling · 1 A voice or video clip the learner re-listens to while checking order
- Laminated retell cards · 1 set per pair Reusable cards for repeated retelling practice
Works in different contexts
- large-group Model retelling once with the whole group, then have partners retell to each other while the facilitator circulates and listens for order
- self-directed A learner chooses a recorded telling, listens twice, then retells the three steps aloud to a grown-up, a sibling, or into a recording
- multi-age Older learners tell a three-step happening; younger learners move one object per step as they hear it, then trade roles
- level-grouped Pair learners who retell fluently with those still learning order; the stronger partner tells first as a model, then the learner retells back
- outdoor-only Walk to three spots as the three steps are retold — first spot, next spot, last spot — so order lives in the body and the place
Lesson 1 — Listening and Retelling in Order
Summary
Learners listen to a partner tell a short, three-step happening, then retell it back in the correct order using first, next, and last. Order is the goal — not exact words — and every language has its own words for “first,” “next,” and “last.”
Objectives
- Listen to a partner and retell what they said in the correct order. (D04.S1.02.01)
Connection
All day people tell you things that happen in steps: how to plant a seed, the way to school, what happened at the market or on the farm. If the steps come out of order, the story breaks — like putting the roof on a house before the walls. Listening for the order and retelling it back is how people everywhere pass along know-how, one generation to the next.
Materials
- A short, simple happening to share (three clear steps, in the home language)
- Three-step retell cards (first, next, last)
- Three small objects, such as stones or seeds (low-tech)
Preparation
- Choose or remember a short happening with three clear steps.
- Prepare the retell cards or three small objects.
- Arrange partners so each pair can sit facing one another.
Facilitator note
This lesson is written to the learner (“you”) so it works in a classroom and for a self-directed learner. Model one retelling in three clear moves before partners work, then guide the practice. Retelling honors the speaker’s meaning, not their exact words — celebrate a learner’s own wording, in their own language and their own way of speaking; there is no single “correct” accent. Oral traditions everywhere carry stories by retelling; this is an ancient and universal human skill. A learner who is Deaf or hard of hearing retells in sign, in pictures, or with objects moved in order; a learner who does not use a speaking voice retells by pointing, signing, drawing, or using a communication device — holding the order is what counts.
Procedure
- Gather (5 min). Sit facing your partner. Remember what listening feels like: your full attention on the speaker — with your eyes, your ears, or both. If you listen by watching faces and hands in sign, that is listening too.
- Meet the order words (5 min). Learn the three words that hold a story together: first, next, last. Say them in your home language. Every language has its own words for these three steps.
- Listen once (5 min). Your partner tells a short happening with three steps. Listen all the way through, without talking, with your whole body.
- Listen again and mark the order (10 min). Hear it a second time. As you hear each step, move one stone or touch one card: first… next… last.
- Retell it back (15 min). Now retell the happening to your partner in order, using your own words and the three order words. Then trade roles: your partner tells, you listen, and you retell.
- Close (5 min). Order is what keeps a story whole. First, next, last — the shape of every telling, in every language.
Differentiation
- Support: Retell with just two steps first (first, last), then add the middle; use objects instead of words if helpful.
- Support (non-speaking): Retell by moving three objects in order, signing, or pointing to three pictures — the order is the retelling.
- Extension: Retell a four-step happening and notice where the extra step belongs in the order.
Assessment
- Formative (observation): Can the learner retell a partner’s three-step happening in the correct order, in their own words and in their own language?
Home connection
Ask someone at home to tell you how to do one small task in three steps, then retell it back to them in order and ask, “Did I keep the order?”
Resources
- CASEL SEL Framework (listening and relationship skills): https://casel.org/fundamentals-of-sel/