This study examines how pre-readers' comprehension of story read-alouds is affected when story goal structure deviates from the canonical event. Forty children (30-59 months) were read stories in which there was either a match or mismatch between story and event goal structure. Children's content comprehension scores for the matched story (M =…

The effectiveness of using American Sign Language (ASL) handshape stories to teach word recognition in whole stories using a descriptive case study approach was explored. Four profoundly deaf children ages 7 to 8, enrolled in a self-contained deaf education classroom in a public school in the south participated in the story time five-week…

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effect of props on children's narrative retells. Forty-two children in two comparable K/1 classrooms heard and practiced the same stories over eight weeks. This study found that the props had a positive effect on the children's use of descriptive language, but there was no effect on the number…

Flannelboards have been a storytime staple for years in school and public libraries. The flannelboard, or feltboard as it often is called, is a great tool to help children build early literacy skills. Reading research tells us that reading aloud is most effective when it is an interactive experience between the reader and the child. Flannelboard…

This article tells the story of how the Ball-Stick-Bird reading system, intended for superior dyslexic students, was applied to the teaching of reading to individuals with severe to moderate mental retardation. The system incorporates developmental linguistics to make story reading easier for the beginning student. The first books of the series…

This paper describes the Ball-Stick-Bird reading system, which shows students how all the letters of the alphabet can be built with three basic forms: a circle (ball), a line (stick), and an angle (bird). The method also uses modified phonics and developmental linguistics, aids story reading by using capital letters in the beginning, and enhances…

Discusses the use of story frames as a strategy for teaching reading comprehension to first grade students, and includes examples of student responses. (JC)

Describes the Graphic Story Writer system, which was written to explore ways in which a computer can simulate the presence of an active listener for early readers and preliterate children as they explore story construction. An authoring tool that allows adults or more advanced students to create or edit new scenarios is also described. (Contains…