Storytelling/-Acting in an Urban U.S. Preschool: Social-Emotional Learning, Common Core State Standards, and Play

• In Event: Cross-Cultural Investigations of Storytelling and Story-Acting: A Dialogue Among Early Childhood Teacher Researchers

Abstract

Objectives and Context:
This study occurred in a public early education center in the Boston Public Schools. The classroom is an inclusive setting with 18 students, of whom 80 percent receive ESL services. Educators plan teaching in accordance to the Common Core Literacy Standards and the Massachusetts Literacy Curriculum Frameworks. Additionally, educators teach using Focus on K1, a child centered, unit-based curriculum that features a ST/SA component.
I became a teacher researcher because I have witnessed the increase in academic expectations in the early childhood grades and find that it often stifles children’s voices in the classroom. Educators feel pressured to use instructional time for intervention groups, losing an opportunity to connect children’s lives to the classroom. In ST/SA, children open a window to their contexts, interests, and cultures. As Paley (2004) emphasized, stories related to fantasy play serve as glue joining early academic learning together. The following questions guided my research: How does ST/SA impact the vocabulary growth of English language learners (ELLs)? Does ST/SA inspire children to participate more during read alouds? What impact does ST/SA have on children’s social and emotional development?

Theoretical Framework and Methodology:
This presentation utilizes the theoretical framework of inquiry as stance and the methodology of teacher research as presented in the overall session summary, applicable to all three papers.

Data Sources:
Data for this study included: children’s stories dictated by children and transcribed; photographs of the children engaging in storytelling; scores from the Expressive Vocabulary Assessment (EVT) fall and spring; and interviews with some children about the ST/SA technique.

Conclusions:
Although the school year was interrupted, data gathered from this study demonstrates that ST/SA had a positive impact on the expressive vocabulary, participation, and emotional development of the students, especially ELLs. Most importantly, the ST/SA technique had a profound impact on the classroom community. Over time, children clamored for more ST/SA sessions each week. They became engaged in the movement ritual and chant for this special time: lights, camera, action! Several children, particularly a Brazilian child named Helena, became more active in both ST/SA and read aloud sessions. Helena and the majority of her classmates began to ask questions as they were listening to the stories and shared more text-to-self or at times text-to-text connections. The children also began to act out the stories in the dramatic play area using the book as a reference. With regard to vocabulary development, 12 of 16 students who took the test made gains in the standard score of the EVT, demonstrating increased word identification skills. Analysis of the children’s stories showed this growth in their storytelling as well. Observational data from the study indicates that ST/SA enabled children to grow in turn-taking skills, expressing their feelings and opinions, as well as accepting disappointment- especially if they were unable to participate in the role that they desired. To conclude, children demonstrated a greater sense of confidence and self-esteem as they acted out the stories in the latter part of the school year.

Author

• Maria Valarezo, Boston Public Schools