Foundations for writing: preschool oral storytelling following visual design and story grammar instruction

Abstract Storytelling is foundational to early language development and linked to later reading and writing achievement. Strong narrative abilities in preschool are associated with improved writing outcomes. We conducted an ancillary study to a pretest-posttest evaluation of the impact of read alouds of high-quality children’s picture books followed by direct instruction in illustration design and story grammar on students’ early reading skills. In the present study, oral storytelling—an early writing skill—of 47 preschool students who received the instruction was evaluated. Narrative language samples were assessed for story grammar and episodic complexity using the CUBED assessment of Narrative Language Measures. Researchers performed a series of ANCOVA tests, with pretest scores as the covariate, along with descriptive statistics, to evaluate oral storytelling outcomes. Findings indicate that students in the experimental group were more likely to include a setting, problem, sequence, plan/attempt, consequence, and develop more complex episodes. Additionally, the story grammar component scores of the treatment group were significantly higher than those of the BAU comparison group. Students in the experimental condition demonstrated no significant differences from the BAU comparison group in the inclusion of endings nor emotions in their oral storytelling. This suggests illustration design and story grammar instruction combined with quality picture books can positively impact student narrative ability and doing so offers a low cost, high reward opportunity for educators.