Effects of dramatic play on children's narrative competence were investigated among 36 second-graders. Children were read a familiar folktale and then "played" the story, discussed it, or drew a picture about it. They were then asked to retell the story either to an informed or to a naive listener. It was hypothesized that (1) more…

Developed by the Oregon Elementary English Project, this curriculum unit contains drama activities intended for grades one and two. The activities are not ordered in a definite sequence; rather they are meant to be used as the opportunity arises. The activities are divided into (1) exercises based on puppetry, including a puppet hunt, the making…

Describes procedures found to be effective for eliciting children's creative dramatic play in the classroom. A second-grade classroom scenario provides an example of the way key components of play training techniques can be implemented by the teacher and indicates the decision-making processes to be addressed.

Describes a discourse created by second graders who were deliberating about important social issues in the course of discussing a story. (BB)

This study compared the effects of drama and drawing planning activities with a traditional planning activity (discussion) on the quality of second and third graders' narrative writing. After 15 sessions, researchers found that drama and drawing were effective forms of rehearsal for narrative writing and more successful than discussion. (SM)

A classroom research project in Alaska explored what role dramatic play and story reenactments have as a teaching/learning method for young childrens' development. A review of the literature identified several common elements that helped teachers elicit successful dramatic story reenactments: choosing a familiar book or story; encouraging…