This paper critically examines recent studies investigating the relationship between dramatic play and story comprehension. Four issues to be addressed are (1) play and contextual variables; (2) treatment effects on different subjects; (3) length of effects; and (4) size of effects. Recommendations for future research are made. (Author/MT)

Offers suggestions for promoting dramatic play as a medium for literacy development by concentrating on three factors: (1) the settings in which play occurs; (2) the amount of time allocated for play activities; and (3) the type of teacher involvement in play episodes. (MG)

Describes a play observation system and offers guidelines for using a recently developed play observation inventory. Two basic sociodramatic play training procedures are described which teachers can use to enhance the quality of children's play. (Author/RH)

Literacy materials were added to preschoolers' play areas. The teacher encouraged some of the children to use the materials. Observations revealed that children who received encouragement engaged in more literacy-related play than other children. Subsequent literacy assessments revealed no differences in literacy between the groups of children.…

Describes the collaborative literacy activity that occurred in one teacher's sociodramatic play center in a multi-age classroom (K-2) and a kindergarten classroom. Finds the children in the multi-age group engaged in a larger amount and a broader range of collaborative literacy activities than did the kindergartners; and the collaborative…

A study investigated the styles teachers exhibit while interacting with children in literacy-enriched play settings, whether teachers switch between several different styles, and how different play interaction styles affect children's play behaviors. Subjects, seven 4-year-olds enrolled in a university laboratory preschool class, a lead teacher,…

In a study on the effects of play period length on four and five year olds' play behavior, results indicated that play time affected the amount and maturity of play. Guidelines for structuring play time in the classroom are offered. (BB)

Examined the collaborative literacy learning that occurred in a literacy-enriched sociodramatic play center. Literacy behaviors were coded from transcripts of 15 hours of free play. Found substantial cross-age literacy-based collaboration, with almost half the interactions involving older children helping younger children. This collaboration was…