Reading and creating books: Bridging the distance from stories to e-stories

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of a two-phase intervention programme meant to reinforce comprehension of the structural framework of stories among 92 preschool children (aged 4–6 years) over 4 months. During the first phase, the children were called upon to produce their own original stories following the Story Grammar pattern, while in the second phase, based on their previous training on the structural framework of stories, they were trained to produce digital stories using the web 2 tool StoryJumper. Both phases of the intervention programme included a combination of verbal and visual aids. The quantitative analysis of the data showed that the intervention programme significantly improved children’s ability to comprehend the structural elements of stories and to create organized, comprehensible stories. Following our expectations, the children’s new knowledge on the structure of stories was transferred to their digital creations. The implementation of the intervention programme helped substantive questions emerge about the formation of a multi-level strategy which would effectively support the transfer of knowledge and skills from a traditional to a digital environment through processes that are meaningful for children.