Research
Over the course of a 9 month period, the Story Spinner was the subject of an evaluation by Eve Bearne (Cambridge University) and Marilyn Mottram (Birmingham Education).
The key findings from their evaluation are were incredibly positive.
Key findings:
- The achievements of all children involved indicate that The Story Spinner DVDs have contributed significantly to raising standards in speaking and listening.
- Noticeable gains have been seen in writing. The structure as well as the imaginative content of the children’s told and written narratives improved noticeably over the course of just one term.
- The DVDs have helped to raise attainment in reading, as children could watch stories on the DVDs then transfer their understanding to stories in books.
- The DVDs provided support for more flexible and creative planning and teaching, fitting well with the revised Literacy Framework and offering a variety of assessment opportunities in reading, speaking and listening and writing.
- Several teachers commented on improved behavior linked to a rise in confidence and self-esteem as a result of children’s success as storytellers and writers.
“Watching the DVDs and listening to stories sparked off the children’s own imaginative inner worlds which became evident in the content of their stories.”
“You wouldn’t expect it – because there are no extra visual effects – but it is almost as though it means more to them because there isn’t any of the sort of movement and action that they are used to and they lean forward and want to hear more and more…”
“He gives them a higher order of language and they just suck it in. You can talk with them easily about similes and vocabulary because they are inside it. The wealth of language they have picked up is incredible. It’s another friend in the classroom for us. The children shout ‘Here comes Phil’.”
Comments by teachers involved in the project.
As the teachers reported, and the case studies indicate, all the children involved in the project benefited from the experience of storytelling before writing.
Download a summary of the Evaluation here