My dd7 dreads narration and is SO bland when she does do it...BUT, if I wait until later in the day and say "Tell Daddy (grandma....) about that interesting story we read in history today." WOW, she could write a book about it! It takes the pressure off her and allows her to process what's she's heard. She seems to have some listening comp issues. Allowing it to soak in seems to be the fix we needed. I'll start asking her to tell about it sooner and sooner as time goes on until we get to having her tell about it right after listening to it.
I also have her do this with other things, like science experiments and other things that truely interest her. Tell dad about what we did in science today. So, if you can't get a narration from the history, you could start with things you know he truely enjoys and make it fun for him to tell. I am always sure to make sure dad knows to make a big deal about it. I might even chime in with "Oh, yeah..and that part where _______ was so cool. I can't remember it well though, can you?"...and of course, she does! It's been an amazing change for her!
Oh, I've also had her draw pictures about what she's read (divide a paper into 3 parts...what happened first, in the middle, and last OR Characters, Problem, Solution, etc). Or just ask her favorite part, least favorite part, fave character, etc. There's also a "narration cube" that made it fun. I think you can google it and see how to make it. You roll the cube and tell what it ask for and even my 4yo likes this one!
HTH!
