Short Stories: Relationship Between Drama and Stories Read and Told by Young Students (2016)

Undergraduate: Gabrielle McHarg

Faculty Advisor: Barbara Goldman
Department: Psychology & Neuroscience

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Storytelling has been an art and a form of communication since language began, and stories introduce children to many concepts and morals from an early age. Teachers and policy writers work continuously to find ways to teach reading and writing to students. This project aimed to take a deeper look at story reading and storytelling by exploring the effects of summer drama programs on the expressive reading and storytelling of students in first through third grades. Data were compared to those obtained in comparable students who participated in other kinds of summer activities. Prosodic reading, reading comprehension, and cohesive, detailed storytelling were carefully reviewed through a series of assessments. Results of this study indicate that being involved in theater seems to be significantly related to storytelling. Scores of expressive reading and storytelling for students in the theater group improved throughout the summer. Further research should be done to assess whether storytelling and reading ability are influenced by other experiences, such as parental prosody, exposure to educational media, or high reading levels. A variety of other findings indicate this is a rich area of research that should be further explored.