Story retelling glove: a 20-minute kindergarten comprehension activity
What it is: a kindergarten comprehension activity where each finger of a glove (or a drawn hand) stands for one part of a story: characters, setting, beginning, middle and end. Students use their own hand to retell a story in order.
Time: about 20 minutes. Grade: kindergarten.
Materials: a garden or knit glove with a small picture on each finger (person, house, 1, 2, 3), a familiar picture book, and paper hand outlines for students.
- Read the story aloud.
- Put on the glove. Touch the thumb: "Who was in the story?" Then the pointer: "Where did it happen?"
- Touch the next three fingers for beginning, middle and end, asking students what happened at each.
- Partners retell the story to each other, touching one finger for each part.
- Students draw one part on each finger of a paper hand to take home and retell to their family.
Differentiation: students who need support retell only beginning, middle and end. Students who are ready add the problem and how it was solved. English learners can retell with pictures from the book.
Quick check: ask a student to hold up their middle finger of the hand outline and tell what happened in the middle of the story.
Need it for another grade or subject? Ask us on the request page and our team will write it.
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About this resource
- Shared by
- @UpOnlyLearning · Curriculum team
- Posted
- Oct 29, 2026
- Type
- Lesson plan
- Grade
- Grades K–2
- Subject
- Reading
- Language
- English
- License
- Free for classroom, co-op and tutoring use. Please don't resell.