An object that the preschoolers manipulate helps them retell a story they heard. A retelling bracelet is a simple example of a manipulative. A bead to represent each part of the story is placed on a string or pipe cleaner. The color of the bead can help remind the students of the story element. For example, when retelling "Little Red Riding Hood," a red bead represents the character of Little Red Riding Hood, while a brown bead might represent the wolf. As the preschooler retells the story, she slides each bead over to remind her of what she has already said and what comes next. A retelling necklace is another variation of this strategy.
Dramatic play, which is already a part of many preschool programs, works well as a retelling strategy. Simple stories work best when working with young children to keep the reenactment simple enough for the preschoolers to do themselves. You don't need costumes for the reenacted version. Assign roles to each preschooler based on the characters in the story. The kids act out the major points in the story as a method of retelling. Puppets offer another option for reenactments.
Artistic representations allow the kids to show their interpretations of the story. A homemade book that focuses on the main parts of the story, such as the characters, setting and conflict, is one artistic option. The preschoolers draw pictures on the pages to represent these components. Another option is to present the kids with images of the main parts of the story. The kids color in the pictures and arrange them in the correct order according to the story.
Preschoolers are just learning about parts of stories and how to retell those details so prompts from the teacher help guide the process. The prompts can be either verbal or visual reminders that help a child include all of the highlights. For verbal prompts, you might say, "Tell me where the story happened and who was there." Posters with pictures that show the main components of the story also work as prompts.