Fiction Story Retell Anchor Charts – Five Finger Set

Retell a fiction story by identifying its characters, setting, problem, sequence of events, and solution.

Retell a nonfiction text by stating its main idea, three supporting details, and the author's purpose.

Use sentence starters to structure a spoken or written retelling in order.

Post the anchor-chart page as a visual reference, then hand out the more fully-scaffolded worksheet version before moving students to the version with additional blanks.

Use the fiction and nonfiction versions side by side when teaching students to distinguish how retelling structure differs between genres.

Reuse the templates across multiple stories throughout the year rather than as a single one-time activity, since the sentence starters are generic. Before choosing a retelling approach, review the difference with this fiction and nonfiction anchor chart.

Fiction retelling — students identify characters, setting, problem, and sequence of events, and state the story's solution, using the five-finger structure.

Nonfiction retelling — students state a text's main idea, three supporting details, and the author's purpose.

Sequential organization — the beginning/middle/end prompts require students to order story events.