A study examined the process of change in story development (in contrast to documenting common structures) found in the stories generated by cross-cultural/cross-linguistic students. Subjects, 12 first-grade native English-speaking students in either of two separate school districts and 23 cross-cultural/cross-linguistic students representing the…

Investigates the effectiveness of instruction in story mapping as a means to promote first-grade students' comprehension of central story elements in children's literature. Concludes that instruction in story mapping is an effective instructional strategy for promoting first-grade students' ability to identify central narrative elements in…

To encourage children's creative writing in a classroom setting, student teachers used two types of children's books as models: (1) a traditionally structured picture book in which the story maintains strong development of plot, setting, and characters as in "Peter Rabbit"; and (2) a predictable pattern book that develops a repetitive pattern as…