Using Digital Photography to Enhance Preschool Childrens Narrative Skills

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Using Digital Photography to Enhance Preschool
Childrens Narrative Skills

• Gravani E. Meyer, J.ASHA (2006)

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Preschool skills related to later literacy

• Scarborough (2001) talks about multiple strands
  like a rope
• Preschool skills relate both to early reading
  decoding and to later reading comprehension

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These include

• Phonological Awareness
• Sound-letter Awareness
• Vocabulary
• Syntax
• Morphology
• Metalinguistics
• Narratives
• Experience with books

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Narratives

• Provide decontextualized language which is
  related to later literacy (Dickinson Snow,
  1987)
• Relate to later reading comprehension skills in
  4th grade (Home-School Study, 2001)
• Skills with narratives are related to overall
  language skills (Kaderavek Sulzby, 2000)

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Narratives can also provide

• Context for vocabulary
• Discussion of vocabulary is related to receptive
  vocabulary in kindergarten (Dickinson, 2001)
• Context for syntax morphology
• Experience with books - related to oral language
  (Senechal et al, 1998)

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Narratives also..

• Provide a means to learn literary vocabulary
• Analyze stories (metalinguistic abilities)
• Allow for comparisons
• Expand world knowledge

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Background our previous research

• 2000-2 Gravani Meyer provide intervention for
  approximately 12 hrs
• 2 classrooms phonological awareness (PA) 2
  classrooms narrative intervention
• Both groups demonstrated gains (main effects)
• Children in the narrative classroom showed
  greater gains than the children in the PA
  classroom for narratives (plt.004)
• Children in the PA classroom showed more
  improvement in alliteration detection (plt.012)

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Our Research on Preliteracy Intervention

• Relationship with CAPCO Head Start began in 2000
• Research on phonological awareness and narrative
  skills in the CAPCO Head Start classrooms in
  Cortland County, NY
• Upstate NY rural area

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Intervention (2002-3)

• Half-day in-service for Head Start teachers
• 2 groups compared (Workshop only vs. Workshop
  Modeling)
• For WM group, researchers provided intervention
  once each week (for PA then narratives)
• Teachers had two extension activities

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Findings (2002-3)

• Main effect children in all classrooms showed
  improvement
• Treatment classroom improved in alliteration
  detection (plt.008)
• Narratives scores approached significance
• Teachers needed more than just modeling

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Narrative Intervention (2004-5)

• 2 control classrooms
• 3 intervention classrooms
• Both groups included children from rural areas,
  small towns small city (Cortland)
• Mid January until Mid May
• 2 to 2 ½ weeks per story

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Intervention materials

• Teachers in the intervention classes were given
• the book
• a lesson plan
• flannel board materials
• repertoire theater materials
• one other activity

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Sequence

• Book read
• Flannel board activity
• Repertoire theater
• Materials available in the book area for
  additional practice

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Lesson Plan The Three Billy Goats
Gruff Phrases Sentence structure (Syntax)
(question) Whos that tripping over my
bridge? Be off with you! (command) Prefixes
suffixes (Morphology) -er and est (bigger and
smallest) -ed (past tense) roared, creaked,
groaned, walked Story Terms Narrative
Vocabulary Beginning Problem Villain Ending
Snip Snap, Snout This tales told
out. Social Behavior (Pragmatics) Problem
solving Other Small versus large sounds trip,
trap, trip, trap
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Lesson Plan

• Vocabulary
• Noun Verb Adjective
• troll gobble littlest
• creaked bigger
• groaned
• roared
• Prepositions Temporal
• over first, second
• under after, until

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Results (2004-5)

• All classrooms improved in narrative skills
  (plt.001)
• Intervention classes improved more than the
  control classrooms (plt.044)
• More introductions, dialogue and conclusions used
• Specific language measures (MLU, of words, of
  different words) showed significant gains as a
  main effect but not as a treatment effect

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Intervention using digital pictures - 2005-2006

• The children in the Head Start classes needed
  more practice with the stories
• One possibility for additional practice were
  picture books using digital pictures of the
  children
• Two possibilities were to have materials for the
  classrooms or to send them home

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Intervention - hypotheses

• Research by Dickinson (2001) discusses the
  importance of teachers in fostering language
  skills
• Pilot study classrooms homes
• Purpose to determine if digital pictures could
  be used to enhance childrens narrative skills

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Subjects

• Children in CAPCO Head Start in Cortland County
• Not identified as having Speech or Language
  Disorders
• Passed screening test
• Present for the full intervention program

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Classrooms

• Two control classrooms (from (2004)
• Two intervention classrooms
• Both had the researchers present a story every 2
  weeks
• One received two books made with digital
  pictures of the children enacting the story
• One each child received a book to take home

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Stories

• Goldilocks the Three Bears
• The Three Little Pigs
• The Three Billy Goats Gruff
• Are You My Mother?
• The Gingerbread Man
• The Little Red Hen
• The Tortoise and the Hare
• The Enormous Turnip
• Borreguita
• The Little Engine That Could

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Materials

• Materials lesson plans were similar to the 2004
  study
• Materials included a flannel board activity, a
  theater activity (masks, name cards) often
  another activity
• Language Lesson Plan emphasizing the language
  targets
• Later Digital picture books

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Language Task

• Story retelling
• Modified version of Buddy the Dog from old
  version of the PLS
• Added a title and a slightly different
  introduction
• Reasons for choosing this story

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Narrative Rating 5 pts.

• Introduction
• Sequencing (minimum of 3 events with all of the
  story in sequence)
• Connectives (minimum of two different ones used)
• Dialogue
• Conclusion

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Other measures

• of words
• MLU
• Clauses total of sentences with 2 or more
  clauses
• Clauses 3 or more clauses

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Results

• Main Effects for all the language measures
• Interactions - approached significance
• Total of clauses p lt .061
• of 3 clauses sentences p lt .057
• For the 3 clause sentences the classroom with
  the books in the classroom, used by the teacher
  had the stronger effect

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Feedback from the Adult Participants

• Teachers liked the stories books but
  sometimes felt rushed
• Later did not emphasize the other classrooms
  often let it be child initiated
• Parent survey was positive

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Pilot Year 2

• Continuing and emphasizing the use of all
  materials for the classrooms
• Re-emphasizing the language targets
• Allowing more time between stories

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Conclusion

• SLPs can provide not only intervention but also
  teacher training/support which can be effective
  in improving childrens narratives
• Results with digital picture books indicate a
  trend towards more clauses and 3 clause sentences
  
• Need more research on intervention relating to
  preliteracy and also teacher training