The Study
"Show and tell" or sharing time is often a frustrating experience for both children and teachers. Dr. Patricia Edwards, Professor of Teacher Education at Michigan State University, studied a program in two kindergarten classrooms where parents helped their children prepare for sharing about designated topics. The teachers, with the aid of a published list of suggestions from Show and Tell: Structured Oral Language Activities (Williams & Lewis, 1988), developed a list of topics for the class to discuss during sharing time. Parents were asked to talk with their children about the week's topic and help them prepare for the classroom sharing time. Follow-up evaluation identified benefits and problems associated with this approach.

The Findings
Most parents responded enthusiastically to the new opportunities to help their children with a school assignment. Since all the children had the same weekly topic, they became more topic centered and were able to ask better questions and develop their listening skills to a greater extent. The children were eager to take their turns sharing. Even shy children became more confident and better able to communicate in the oral information exchanges. However, some children talked too long, and others gave elaborate presentations that were "hard acts to follow." Some parents lacked the time to assist their children, and some parents misunderstood their role. Forums organized by the teachers provided an opportunity for an informal exchange of information. These discussions were especially helpful to young and teenage parents.

What It Means to You
If "show and tell" is a somewhat unproductive activity in early childhood classrooms, teachers may want to take a more structured approach and involve parents in creating sharing time conversations on topics that are age-appropriate. Topics such as those used by the experienced kindergarten teachers in the study may be helpful to teachers: This is Me, My Neighborhood, My Favorite Book, My Favorite Holiday, Things to Feel and Guess, All About My Family, Dogs, Cats, Making a List, Valentine's Day, I Found a Leaf, My Favorite Color, Snakes. Teachers using this approach will likely find that it: (1) provides a reasonable structure for parents and children to follow; (2) enables them to integrate a structured oral language program into their classroom; (3) stimulates new ideas, and motivates students to organize their thoughts and speak in complete sentences; and (4) encourages parental involvement in the learning process of their children.

More Information
You can get more information concerning ways for parents and teachers to work together to create sharing time conversations by consulting Edwards, Patricia A. (September 1996). "Creating Sharing Time Conversations: Parents and Teachers Work Together," Language Arts, Vol. 73, pp. 344-349.

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