Abstract
This study examined the effects of three modes of story reconstruction training on the development of children’s story comprehension. One hundred and eight children in grades K-2 were assigned randomly to one of three training conditions: thematic-fantasy play, adult-lead discussion, or drawing. Children were read three books on separate occasions and exposed to the appropriate conditions in relation to each book. Story comprehension data, as measured by a two-factor, criterion-referenced test and a retell task, collected after the third session, were analyzed. Second graders’ performance on all comprehension measures was superior to the younger children’s comprehension. Thematic-fantasy play was the most effective facilitator of all measures of comprehension, particularly for kindergarteners. Enacting specific play roles seemed to have a direct effect on the ability to retell stories.
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