Strands of early literacy

Oral language

Young child making food in kitchen
Mother sitting with her little girl
Young boy smiling
Adult and child with food on the table


Storytelling

Storytelling enables young children to develop a love of stories and language and to be better equipped for reading and talking. Four short films highlight the importance of storytelling in all languages.

The Three Little Pigs

The Three Little Pigs features the well known story, through live action and puppetry. Actor Susan Cookson plays Silvee Starr who comes across Fliss who is watching some piglets on a farm, so Silvee begins the story. This is a film for parents to watch together with their young children.

The importance of storytelling

Professor Cathy Nutbrown talks with actor Susan Cookson about the importance of storytelling, voice, characterisation, and the fun of telling stories anywhere and everywhere.

Practitioners: the importance of home languages and cultures

Two practitioners talk about the importance of families’ home languages and cultural heritages in storytelling as a way of developing all children’s languages and enhancing their personal and cultural identities.

How parents can create stories around life events

Parent Nadia talks about how she used life events to create stories, real and imagined, to support her children’s learning and confidence.

Sheffield research into parents’ roles in supporting their children’s early literacy underpins this event.

A leaflet for parents in English (PDF, 626KB) and Urdu (PDF, 686KB) offer suggestions about telling stories with young children.