Beginning Narration

I wrote in an earlier post about the technique of retelling or narration, as a way to help children internalize and take ownership of books they read or books read to them. I have had a bit of a rocky start in teaching Lily how to narrate. She is happy to answer specific questions, but if I ask her simply to tell me about what we just read, she hesitates to volunteer anything. I decided to get over this hump I needed to resort to extreme measures--bribery! We bought a bag of Jelly Belly candy, and sat down with a book with simple, familiar story segments. I would read a segment, then ask Lily to tell me about it, then reward her with a jelly bean. Lily is easily motivated by rewards, and this system worked beautifully for us. Now that Lily knows what to do and has practiced doing it a few times, I think we will be able to proceed without the incentive of immediate rewards.