This research examined two strategies for encouraging preschoolers’ narratives. Thirty-two lower-SES and 31 middle-SES children (mean age = 4.85) participated. Children were assigned randomly to either high or low elaborative narrative style conditions. Afterward, each child participated in two activities and then narrated about them on two occasions, once in a draw-and-tell condition and once in a tell-only condition. Children’s narratives were coded for narrative indicators and distracters. MANOVA procedures confirmed that children provided more narrative indicators when narrating in draw-and-tell versus tell-only reporting conditions, and an interaction between reporting condition, elaborative style, and SES indicated that lower-income children’s narratives benefited most when they narrated in high elaborative, draw-and-tell conditions. Implications for understanding narrative, SES, and narrative supports are discussed.
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