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 _________________?
Retrieval activities
Story Treasure Hunt
After reading a short story together, ask your child to find details (like a character’s name, something a character said, or where something happened). Turn it into a game—can they find the “treasure” (the answer) in the text?
Who Said It?
Write down or say lines from the story and ask your child to say which character said them. For example, “Who said, ‘I’ll huff and I’ll puff’?” This helps them go back and remember important quotes or events.
Quick Quiz
After reading, ask a few simple questions such as:
- “What happened first?”
- “Where did the story take place?”
- “What did the main character want to do?”
Let your child look back at the book if they’re not sure—this builds retrieval habits.
Draw and Tell
Ask your child to draw a scene from the book, then explain what’s happening in their picture. Encourage them to include details they remember from the story and look back in the book to check.
Text Detectives
Choose a short chapter or section of a book. After reading, give your child a list of clues or questions to answer—like a mini mystery! For example:
- “Find the sentence that tells us how the character felt.”
- “What object did the character lose?”
- “Find three facts about the setting.”
- “What problem did the character face?”
Encourage your child to skim and scan the text to find the answers. You can even time them or turn it into a score-based game to make it fun!