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In early years settings it is common practice to introduce a theme or topic by sharing a story with the children, and then involving them in various activities based on that story. This is usually an effective way of planning to develop children's learning. However, it makes a very big assumption: that all the children will enjoy, understand and be inspired by the story in the first place.
While many children are able to become readily involved in a story, for others this is not an effective starting point. There may be a number of reasons for this: the story may be difficult for the children to understand, they may not like or recognise the illustrations, or they may lack the language skills needed to make sense of a story. Or perhaps they are learning English as an additional language, and just don't have the vocabulary to follow what the story is about.
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