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ERIC Number: EJ886233
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010
Pages: 33
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1040-9289
EISSN: N/A
"The Seesaw Is a Machine that Goes up and down": Young Children's Narrative Responses to Science-Related Informational Text
Mantzicopoulos, Panayota; Patrick, Helen
Early Education and Development, v21 n3 p412-444 2010
Research Findings: We report on an assessment developed to document young children's narrative production after listening to short segments of science-related informational text (SciT) on life science, earth and space, and simple machines. We examine differences between kindergarten boys (n = 39) and girls (n = 29) on several indices of narrative production as well as on children's interest and reported use of SciT at home and school. We obtained evidence that young children understand and enjoy SciT. After a single reading of the text by an adult, children produced accurate paraphrases of the texts. We found no differences between girls and boys on any measure of meaning making or interest across all SciT topics. Children's scores were highest for the two life science texts and lowest for the earth and space texts. The SciT genre also appealed to the children; more than half said they would like to read similar books. However, opportunities for reading this genre at home or school differed between the sexes. Practice or Policy: Our results support the arguments that SciT is appropriate for children in the early grades and that children are likely to benefit from SciT with respect to both their reading and science learning. (Contains 5 tables and 1 figure.)
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Kindergarten
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
IES Funded: Yes
Grant or Contract Numbers: R305K050038