Dictating and Acting Out Stories: A Pathway to Writing for Preschoolers

Story dictation and story acting are joint practices that were popularized some years ago by educator and author Vivian Paley and remain relevant today given their alignment with child-centred, play-based curricula. We review quantitative and qualitative research on these practices, with a focus on young children’s writing as it has been conceptualized in cognitive-linguistic and socio-cultural models. The studies reviewed demonstrate that story dictation and story acting augment children’s print and word awareness, motivate children to handwrite and spell (i.e., transcribe), and enhance vocabulary and narrative skills that are important to composing texts in both oral and written modalities. The practices also foster individual creativity and collaboration amongst children and can thus help teachers and children build a vibrant community of storytellers in their classrooms. In addition to elaborating on the diverse benefits of story dictation and story acting, the review covers ways that the practices can be expanded or modified to engage all children on the path to writing and guides readers to key resources. We conclude with issues that merit reflection by teachers or other practitioners wishing to implement story dictation and story acting in their classroom or other early childhood setting.