GTN Research Claire Spence

Using Action Research To Empower North Carolina Educators A Race to the Top Initiative NC Department of Public Instruction Educator Effectiveness Division

Playing with Props, Puppets and Child Productions The importance of play to young children’s healthy development and learning has been documented by research. Yet play is rapidly disappearing from early education as a whole.

Three research questions Does participating in dramatic play correspond with increased story recall? What kinds of literacy behaviors do students participate in during dramatic play? Does teacher guidance increase or decrease literacy behaviors of children in dramatic play?

Measurement For this study the following data sources were used to answer the research questions: Story comprehension questions. Dramatic play observations using Play Observation Scale (POS) by Dr. Rubin Revised Classroom observational Field Notes.

Does participating in dramatic play correspond with increased story recall? To determine if dramatic play corresponded with story recall the six kindergarten students were divided into two groups, Group A and Group B. Group A had the story read to them by the teacher as a group. Group B were asked to perform and act out the story as the teacher read the book. Group B was encouraged to use props found in the dramatic play area to facilitate their performance. Six story comprehension questions were asked of each student in Group A and Group B after they performed or were told the story. 10 or 12 days later the front cover was shown to the students and the same six story comprehension questions were asked again individually.

Story Comprehension Questions. The correct responses from Group A and Group B for each of the six books the day of their reading or performance are displayed below. The correct responses from Group A and Group B for the same book 10 to 12 days after their reading or performance are displayed alongside.

Overall, group B totaled more correct answers days later with 16 correct answers compared to Group A’s 14 correct answers.

W hat kinds of literacy behaviors do students participate in during dramatic play? To determine the behaviors during a dramatic play session, Play Observation Scale (POS) was used to code children’s play behaviors. A student’s behavior was coded at every 10-second interval for a 15minute observation. A coding sheet was used to record individual behaviors. The coding sheet is divided into play and non-play categories. Play categories are Solitary, Parallel, and Group Play. Each of the six participants were observed for 15mins in each of the 6 dramatic play area themes.

Kindergarten behaviors, while in the veterinarian theme center, totaled 94% of play while only 6% was recorded as non-play. Out of the three play behaviors, Group Play was the largest with 54%, followed by Parallel Play at 35%, and lastly Solitary Play at 5%.

Does teacher guidance increase or decrease literacy behaviors of children in dramatic play? To determine if teacher guidance increased or decrease literacy behaviors in children Classroom Observation Field Notes were used. Observations were collected during each child’s visit to the dramatic play center. Dramatic play themes were available to children in Groups A and Group B for 10 days for 15min play sessions. The first 5 days were self guided and last 5 days were teacher supported. The field notes were used to document student play activities with and without teacher support. Observations included forming characters (distinguishable letters of the alphabet and numbers). Each letter or number formed by student was counted and recorded. Each graph shows the theme of the center and the number of characters formed with and without teacher support.

Overall, the students produced more characters with a teacher’s support (176 characters) than without a teacher’s support (60 characters), with a total difference of 116 characters.

Recommendations This study suggests a link between dramatic play and literacy behaviors in young children so therefore more in-depth research needs to be conducted on dramatic play and its connection to literacy goals. Six subjects from the same kindergarten classroom were used in this study. A recommendation would be a significantly larger sample size in many various kindergarten classrooms across the State to see if results could be duplicated with diverse populations and schools. Comprehension questions were asked the day it was read or performed and then again ten to twelve days later. It would be interesting to continue the timeline of these comprehension questions, 20days and 30days later to see which group retained the information.

Play?

Teacher Tips From Small Prop boxes to large areas in your room. You make it work for your space. Connected theme/unit/topic/standard. Reading materials. Writing materials post-it notes/blank stickers/highlighters/markers. Teacher support. Pre-during-post.

Literacy Standards Letter sound correspondence. Spaces in print. Capitalize the first word in a sentence and the pronoun I. Publish writing with collaboration with peers. Speaking and Listening Story retell and comprehension

Teacher Supported?

Child Centered

Conclusions This study suggests that performing the book with props increases correct story recall days later for students. Classroom teachers should therefore consider the benefit of having the students perform and use story props when reading in the classroom. It was suggested that dramatic play seem to encourage and support group play behaviors in kindergarten students. Group play interactions have been suggested in other studies to increase verbal and literacy abilities in children. Kindergarten educators should consider the importance of a dramatic play center in their classroom to promote group play in students which is connected to verbal and literacy outcomes. In this study it was also indicated that teacher supported play had the highest outcomes of student produced letter and number characters. This study seems to imply the seemly important role of an educator during a dramatic play session. Educators impact student’s literacy outcomes when they help guide and support the play of young children.

Evaluation Please use the paper on your table to give feedback or advise on this presentation. Thank you!

Research Questions Does participating in dramatic play correspond with increased story recall? What kinds of literacy behaviors do students participate in during dramatic play? Does teacher guidance increase or decrease literacy behaviors of children in dramatic play?