Activity

Rock Painting: Retell a Story

Take a classic childhood art project — rock painting — and add a story for a creative, engaging reading comprehension project. In this activity, children will read a book, then retell the story with pictures they have painted on stones.

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Grades:

Pre-K Kindergarten First Grade Second Grade Third Grade

Subjects:

English Language Arts Reading Reading Comprehension Sequence of Events Summarize and Retell

View aligned standards

RL.K.2 RL.1.2 RL.2.2 RL.3.2 SL.K.2 SL.1.2 SL.2.2 SL.3.2

English Language Arts and Reading

Kindergarten

K.6.D

Grade 1

1.7.D

Grade 2

2.7.D

Grade 3

3.7.D

3.11.B.i

Grade 4

4.7.D

4.11.B.i

English

Kindergarten

R.K.8.e

Grade One

CM.1.2.b

R.1.9.g

Grade Two

R.2.7.g

CM.2.1.i

Grade Three

R.3.5.e

Grade Four

R.4.5.c

No standards associated with this content.

English Language Arts

Kindergarten

2.4.C.1

4.1.B.1

Grade 1

2.2.A.3

2.2.B.2

2.2.B.3

2.4.C.2

Grade 3

2.2.B.2

2.3.B.1

5.1.A.2

Grade 2

2.2.B.2

Grade 4

2.2.A.4

English

Foundation Year

ACELT1580.c

ACELY1646.b

ACELY1650.c

Year 1

ACELT1586.c

ACELY1660.g

Year 2

ACELY1670.e

Year 3

ACELY1675.c

English

Foundation

RV.VCELY153.3

W.VCELT159.3

SL.VCELY174.2

Level 1

RV.VCELY186.7

W.VCELT192.3

Level 2

RV.VCELY222.5

Level 3

RV.VCELY255.3

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What You Need:

A fiction picture book or story
Smooth stones
Tempera paint
Paintbrushes
Fine-tip permanent markers
Newspaper or tablecloth
Blank piece of paper
Writing utensil, such as a pencil, crayon, or marker

What You Do:

Read a fiction picture book or story with your child, and talk to them about the characters, setting, and events in the story. Ask questions such as:
- Who are the characters in this story?
- What are the characters doing?
- Where are the characters in this story?
- What happens first?
- What happens next?
- How does the story end?
Give your child a blank piece of paper and something to write with. Have them plan out the art they will put onto the rocks. If you have four rocks for them to paint, have them create four illustrations to show the sequence of the events in the story.
Take out the materials for painting the rocks and choose a location in which your child will paint. Be sure to protect the surface underneath the rocks and the paintings with newspaper or a tablecloth.
Give your child time to paint their rocks using the plan they created on the piece of paper. Allow the rocks time to dry. If they choose, have them use the fine-tip permanent markers to add more details on top of the dried paint.
Ask your child to put the rocks in order and retell the story aloud to you or another family member or friend.

Display your child’s rocks next to the picture book or story. Challenge others to read the fiction text and then put the rocks in order to retell the story.

Activity

Rock Painting: Retell a Story

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