UC San Diego

The Story Supports Toolkit is a collection of curricular materials and activities designed to support undergraduate (UG) student's interactions with preschool children in collaborative storytelling activities. When UGs participate in the Mi Clase Mágica (MCM) university outreach program, they should be knowledgeable about child development and capable of using of developmentally appropriate practices (DAPs; NAEYC, 2009a) to support children's learning. However, research and anecdotal evidence suggests that UGs also need to be supported in learning how to interact with children in rich language and emergent literacy activities. Three goals framed the design of a curriculum to address this need : (1) support UG's use of storytelling competencies, (2) support UG's use of DAPs, and (3) support UG's sense of teaching efficacy. This curriculum was also aligned with key elements of the Early Childhood Professional Preparation Standards outlined by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC; 2009b). An evaluation was undertaken to examine changes in UG's beliefs and behaviors during the curriculum implementation period concerning (a) use of storytelling competencies, (b) use of DAPs, (c) understanding of child development, and (d) sense of personal and general teaching efficacy. Evidence suggests that UGs experienced positive change in their beliefs and behaviors on multiple interconnected levels during the implementation period. Analysis of observational field notes, survey responses, and UG field notes found that UGs demonstrated increased (1) use of DAPs, (2) use of and value for storytelling competencies, and (3) sense of personal teaching efficacy