How stories work

Stories provide an exciting way into worlds children could not otherwise visit. Because they are such an appropriate way of giving children information, we often use them to spark off interest in a subject. It is less usual for pre-school children to be encouraged to think about how stories work. However, researchers argue that children who think about the way they use language become more confident language users. This seems to make sense. As children grow older we ask them to write stories, yet they may have little experience of thinking about what makes a story and the types of story there are.