Snap-dragons

"SNAP-Dragons" is an enjoyable narrative assessment, using a story retell technique. Developed originally for deaf children (from pre-school to 9 years of age), it has also been trailed successfully with children with language and communication difficulties and learning difficulties. The assessment consists of fourteen full-colour illustrated storybooks, containing no text, so the child can retell the stories in their own words. The fourteen storybooks depict a family of dragons in a variety of settings throughout the year, and are appealing to young children. One of the books is a starter book, which introduces all the characters, four of the stories are assessment books and the remaining stories are for children to practice their storytelling skills. The SNAP-Dragons manual provides clear guidelines for eliciting, transcribing and analysing children's stories, and includes practical suggestions for work in the classroom, clinic or for working with parents. There are two levels of analysis: story grammar, which look at the overall structure of the story; and semantic combinations, which look at the detail of how the ideas are connected to form a cohesive narrative. The manual also includes suggestions for further work, an extensive reference list for further reading, and group and individual research outcomes from a five-year research project. A comprehensive resource, "SNAP-Dragons" is a fun and flexible pack for all speech language therapists, teachers and SENCOs, wanting to assess developing narrative skills with young children.