Portuguese Year 1: Following a story
Portuguese, Year 1 (Portugal): Understand who, where and what happens in a story, guess what comes next from clues, and retell it in order.
Who, where, what happens
A story has characters (who lives it), a place (where) and things that happen in order: beginning, middle and end. Characters feel things and want things, like being worried or happy. The place can change, from the house to the garden. The theme is the big idea underneath. A poem also tells us what someone sees or feels, in just a few lines.
Why it helps to follow
When you follow who does what and in which order, you can guess what comes next. You use clues from the text plus what you already know: a worried boy will probably go and look. And you can retell the story in your own words. Retelling shows you understood.
A case: Tomás and the cat
Listen: «O Tomás abriu a porta e o gato Bolinhas fugiu para o jardim. O Tomás ficou preocupado e procurou-o por todo o lado. Por fim, encontrou-o a dormir debaixo do banco e ficou contente.» Step 1, who: Tomás and the cat Bolinhas. Step 2, where: the house, then the garden. Step 3, feelings: worried, then happy. Step 4, retell: «Primeiro…, depois…, por fim…».
Guess with clues, retell in order
When retelling, many children mix up the order, add things that were not there, or tell only the end. Say it in order and stay with the story. When guessing, your idea may turn out wrong, and that is fine. But a good guess uses clues from the text. A guess with no clues is just making things up.
Where you do this
You retell when you tell a friend the film you saw, or tell your family what happened at school. You guess when you stop a story and ask “what will happen now?”, and when you read a picture book and look at the pictures for clues.
Test what you learned
In a story, who are the characters?
- a) The places where the story happens
- b) The words at the end of the story
- c) Those who live the story: people or animals
Correct answer: c) Those who live the story: people or animals — Yes: characters are the “who” of the story, like Tomás and the cat Bolinhas.
You hear: «A Sofia veste as botas de borracha e pega no guarda-chuva. Lá fora, o céu está cheio de nuvens negras.» What will probably happen next?
- a) Sofia goes to the beach to sunbathe
- b) Sofia goes to sleep in her bed
- c) It snows and she builds a snowman
- d) It will rain and she goes out with the umbrella
Correct answer: d) It will rain and she goes out with the umbrella — Yes: boots, umbrella and dark clouds are three clues that point to rain.
In the story, the cat ran away, then Tomás looked for him, and at the end he found him. Which is the best retelling?
- a) Primeiro o gato fugiu; depois o Tomás procurou-o; por fim encontrou-o.
- b) O Tomás encontrou o gato.
- c) Primeiro o Tomás encontrou o gato; depois o gato fugiu.
Correct answer: a) Primeiro o gato fugiu; depois o Tomás procurou-o; por fim encontrou-o. — Yes: it keeps the order (first, then, at the end) and tells all three parts.
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