BEYOND STORYTIME - A SOCIOPSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE ON YOUNG CHILDRENS OPPORTUNITIES FOR LITERACY DEVELOPMENT DURING STORY EXTENSION TIME

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate young childre n's opportunities to socially construct literacy during story extensio n time. Viewed from a sociopsychological perspective, findings suggest that story extension time afforded the children with occasions to acc omplish key purposes of literacy development and construct concepts ab out literacy. Children took the following identifiable stances toward the tasks: (a) deliberate observers, peer watchers who contributed lit tle to the group discussions but learned about literacy strategies and forms from observing other children in their group; (b) divergent col laborators, who varied their ways of expressing ideas or socially inte racting with peers and explored many forms of meaning-making during st ory extension sessions; and (c) focused collaborators, who consistentl y used recurrent topics, themes, or strategies or sought out particula r individuals. This repetition allowed them time to explore a topic or strategy until they felt they had some control over the required form s, functions, and processes. Each stance afforded children unique occa sions for exploring their concepts about literacy and stories.