Storytelling in a Rock Study: Using Emergent Learning and Universal Design (UDL) to Promote Every Child’s Learning in an Inclusive Preschool Classroom (January 2020)

Description:

Sarika S. Gupta, Hunter College CUNY
Julie Glen, The National Child Research Center

Storytelling—the act of communicating ideas to others through action or words—is an effective vehicle for engaging diverse young learners. Storytelling also can be used to engage and encourage children’s participation in emergent learning. The rock study described here emerged from children’s interests in our inclusive preschool classroom. We used storytelling in this study to promote every child’s learning. This process depended on an understanding of both emergent curriculum and universal design for learning (UDL). Below, we describe each approach, share examples of the emergent study, and reflect on our use of UDL principles. We share this as one example of design-driven learning.