Abstract
Show and tell is a common activity in many early childhood settings yet many teachers question its value. The purpose of this article is to review the benefits and limitations of the traditional approaches to show and tell and to present an alternative approach based upon appropriate practices that was implemented in a multi-age classroom of 3- to 5-year-old children.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Booth-Church, E. (1995). A new twist to show-and-tell.Early Childhood Today, 9(4), 30–31.
Bredekamp, S. (Ed.) (1987).Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children birth through age 8. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Burrell, S. (1995). Tune into “show and tell”.First Teacher, 16(1), 12–13.
Burrell, S. (1992). New ideas for “show and tell”,First Teacher, 13(5), 30–31.
Cullinan, B. (Ed.) (1993).Children's voices: Talk in the classroom. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Day, B. (1983).Early childhood education: Creative learning activities. New York: Macmillan.
Edwards, P. A. (1996). Creating sharing time conversations: Parents and teachers work together.Language Arts, 73(5), 344–349.
Gallas, K. (1994). Sharing time—When children take the chair. In K. Gallas, (Ed.),The languages of learning. How children talk, write, dance, draw and sing their understanding of the world. (pp. 17–35). New York: Teachers College Press.
Goodman, K. S. (1986).What's whole in whole language? Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Katz, L. (1988).Early childhood education. What research tells us. Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappa.
Meranda, R. C. (1991). Show and tell: Making museums...making meaning!Day Care and Early Education, 18(3), 8–10.
Meranda, R. (1985). Show? share? tell? learn?The Newsletter of Parenting, 8(11), 6. Honesdale, PA: Highlights Publishers.
Michaels, S., & Foster, M. (1985). Peer-peer learning: Evidence from a student-run sharing time. In A. Jaggar and M. Trika Smith-Burke, (Eds.)Observing the language learner, Newark, DE: International Reading Association; Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.
Oken-Wright, P. (1988). Show-and-tell grows up.Young Children, 43(2), 52–58.
Raines, S. C., & Canady, R. J. (1990).The whole language kindergarten. New York: Teachers College Press.
Whitmore, K. F., & Goodman, Y. M. (1995). Transforming curriculum in language and literacy. In S. Bredekamp and T. Rosegrant (Eds.),Reaching potentials: Transforming early childhood curriculum and assessment. (pp. 145–166). Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dailey, K. Sharing centers: An alternative approach to show and tell. Early Childhood Educ J 24, 223–227 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02354836
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02354836