What are retrieval skills?
Retrieval skills are the ability to find and remember information from a text they have read. This means looking back at the correct part of the story or book and using the words from the text to help them to answer a question.
Retrieval skills help children to:
- Understand what they have read
- Find key facts or details in a story
- Talk about characters, settings, or events
- Answer questions by using evidence from the text
How You Can Help Your Child at Home
Text detectives
Choose a short chapter or section of a book. Read it and then give your child a list of clues or questions to answer. Encourage your child to skim and scan the text to find the answers. For example:
- Find the sentence that tells me how the character felt.
- What did the character lose?
- Find three facts about the setting.
- What problem did the character face?
Retrieval Reading Questions:
Where/When is the story set?
Who are the main characters?
How does the main character look/behave/speak?
What did ___________ do when ___________?
Where did ___________ go?
Where would you find information about ___________?
Which paragraph tells us _________________?