Developmentally Appropriate Practices

with Storytelling & Books:

Building a Foundation of Literacy

Mounce Public Library Early Literacy ProgramBobbee Pennington,

Family Literacy LibrarianEarly Childhood Specialist

• What do you remember about reading from when you were little?

• Did you have a favorite book?

• Did you have a favorite story that you were told when you were young?

• Do you have a favorite story that you love to tell now?

“In prehistoric caves, during Irishfamines, in Nazi concentration camps, stories were as important as food. They were sometimes served instead, and they nourished starving hearts.”

- Dr. Elizabeth (Betsy) Hearne 8

Dr. Elizabeth (Betsy) Hearne, is a professor and Director of the Center for Children’s Books, Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where she teaches children’s literature and storytelling.

The Power of STORY

Storytelling• Increases verbal interaction.• Builds vocabulary.• Increases listening

comprehension ability.• Builds literacy.

The Interactive Nature of Storytelling:

• Builds narrative concepts necessary for future reading comprehension.

•Attention & memory•Higher order thinking

Story and the Young Child• What does a young child need from “story”

and picture books?• Where are they at as far as language

development? • What does a beginning reader need from

“story” and picture books?

Successful readers…

What foundation do they need in the early childhood years?

How can storytelling and picture books help to build this foundation?

Oral Language Development

Listening and speaking...

develop into reading and writing...

The Home Is Where Oral Language Development Takes Place Before a Child Enters School

How can parents and caregivers build a foundation of oral language that will support school success?

The Home Is a Place of Rich Cultural Tradition.

In addition to a parent’s reading of picture books to their child before that child starts school, family storytelling also builds language development in a child:

• Listening comprehension• Vocabulary

Family Storytelling Is a Bridge:

From home culture’s way of talking & thinking

To school culture’s way of talking & thinking

Classroom Storytelling Is a Bridge:

From classroom culture’s way of talking & thinking…

To home culture’s way of talking & thinking.

Tips for telling a story:

• Try to make a picture in your mind of the story, then, try to help your students see that picture.

• Try to paint those pictures with words.

• For example, in the story, what smells are there?

• What did the story character’s favorite food taste like?

• What are the characters wearing?

• What colors were in the setting?

Many story sources:You can tell a story from a picture book.

You can tell a story based on a picture book.

You can tell a story from oral tradition.

You can tell a story of your own.

You can invent a story to fit a particular concept you are trying to teach.

What is a “Good” Picture Book

“Children’s books are full of good intentions, but that doesn’t make them good books…Good picture books are guaranteed not to cause turning off or wriggling away. They will instead make you want more good picture books.”

-Betsy Hearne 42

How to Choose…

How will you choose the books for the children in your care?

Guidelines

Words Art

No matter how young, each child deserves good art and quality literature.

Society often devalues children and tries to throw them bones of the banal and mundane.

Parents and family members who care for young children know how critical this stage of development is, and that only the best will do.

ResourcesHaven, Kendall. Super Simple Storytelling: A Can-Do Guide for Every Classroom Every Day. Englewood, Colorado: Teacher Ideas Press, 2000. This award-winning book (Storytelling World Award, Winner 2001Special Storytelling Resources United States) includes a wealth of exercises for the storytellingcoach to use to help the youth storyteller discover the basic important elements of a story, how torelate to the audience, why exact memorization is not essential, and other confidence-building andinformative activities.

Hearne, Betsy. Choosing Books for Children. N.Y., N.Y.: Delacorte Press, 1990.Dr. Hearne is a professor in storytelling, library science, and children’s literature. She isalso a reviewer for major review journals. This book includes retrospective lists of the best in children’s literature before 1990.

Lima, Carolyn. A to Zoo Subject Access to Children’s Picture Books . Westport, CT:Libraries Unlimited , 2001.

Contact Information:

Bobbee Pennington, Family Literacy Librarian

Early Childhood SpecialistMounce Public Library

201 E. 26th StreetBryan, TX

(979) 209- 5600bpennington@bryantx.gov

Bibliography

Hearne, Betsy. Choosing Books forChildren. N.Y., N.Y.: Delacorte Press, 1990.p.8, 42.

Graphics used courtesy of Microsoft Corp., 2013.