This paper examines aspects of the use of puppets with young children and provides guidelines on proper times for puppet use, basic movements, and patterns. The use of puppetry in dramatic play provides young children with opportunities for refining communication skills and defining self. Puppetry provides a means for children to explore their…

The process by which preschoolers construct cohesive oral text was studied in dramatic and constructive play settings. Four preschoolers, two boys and two girls ranging in age from 51 to 60 months, were videotaped for 30 minutes in their preschool classrooms. It was found that players in both contexts of play repeated introductory utterances to…

Defines perceptual criticism as an act of verbalizing sight and sound perceptions and contends that this creative synthesizing gives a play its meaning. Speech and Drama, 205 Ashby Road, Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. Subscription Rate: $6.00 per year. (MH)

Role-playing activities were employed by an elementary school counselor to influence moral development. Support was not found for moral reasoning and social perspective-taking levels being influenced by role-playing. Evidence in support of the age-related nature of these constructs and their parallel pattern of development was found. (Author)

Children aged 2 1/2, 3, and 3 1/2 years who had demonstrated appropriate uses for a set of objects, were asked to perform these same actions with objects which varied in similarity in the reference object, or with no object present. (JMB)

Discusses seven books and a film that can help teachers capitalize on the benefits of drama in the classroom. (ARH)

A kindergarten teacher narrates her classroom experiences with terror-stricken Spanish-American children after a devastating tornado. (AJ)

Describes how a teacher sparked her students' interest in Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House" by having them conduct a classroom trial of the play's lead character. (JL)

A charismatic teaching style turns the dance studio or classroom into a theatrical setting in which the dance instructor is "star" and the students are "supporting players." (CJ)

Considers whether dramatic play with toys would be as important for beginning readers and whether it could be used to support their story writing. Discusses the introduction of toys to the writers' workshop. Considers how to reflect on the physical world as a source for story ideas. (SG)

Recommends eight plays from the 1980s which will challenge the thinking of students with issues such as evolving independence of young people, growing up in the context of racism and discrimination, insights into the world of the deaf, and the suffering of humanity during the French Revolution. (MG)

To determine whether the genitalia of anatomical dolls are disproportionately large and may suggest sexual activity to children who have not been abused, the genitalia and breasts of 17 sets of anatomical dolls were measured. When the measurements were extrapolated to adult human proportions, the sizes were not found to be exaggerated. (Author/JDD)

Suggests allowing children to draw on their experiences with doctors and dentists and encouraging pretend play centered around medical settings such as clinics and hospitals. Provides guidelines to involve children's participation in such play, and provides detailed information on setting up appropriate play centers. (BAC)

Describes the ways in which one group of Head Start children included narrative features in their naturally occurring dramatic play and engaged in behaviors similar to process writing. Extends information about narrative features by describing play behaviors similar to mapping and revision. Presents findings that are part of a larger…