Storytelling using big books in the early grades showed a positive effect as far as numeracy is concerned. This strategy proves its worth in addressing the needs of the learners in the mathematical aspect as well as with problems in language literacy. It is for this reason this study was conducted to prove the effectiveness of storytelling on enhancing the competency skills of learners particularly in language literacy and mathematics.
The study utilized the descriptive research method because it allows the researcher to get facts about the aim of this research. The researcher also used the Philippine Early Childhood Development checklist as the questionnaire to the respondents.
The topics subjected for the utilization of big books in Literacy based on the ECD checklist are: (a) family members; and (b) body parts. On the other hand the topics subjected for the utilization of big books in Numeracy based on the ECD checklist are; (a) shapes; (b) colors; and (c) animals. The topics were based on the Curriculum Guide for Teaching Kindergarten learners.
Data gathered in this study shows that in literacy and numeracy. pretest results were very low compared to posttest. The increase in scores was observed after utilizing the big book for the storytelling.Also, significant difference is observed between Pre-test and Post-test mean scores of the learners reflected by the greater t-computed as compared to the t-critical. Thus, the decision is to reject the null hypothesis, meaning, there is a significant difference between the pre-test and the post-test in both literacy and numeracy.
According to teacher respondents the stories are very long. They suggested that teachers should be unified in making big books that can arouse interaction between learners and teachers. Moreover, the words should be readable; it should have rhyming words and more illustrations to attract attentions of the learners.
Finally, this study depicted that there are at least 10 challenges encountered by the teachers in the utilization of big books, the foremost being lack of training for teachers, insufficient materials, and Insufficient funds. The school administrator should ideally imposed a program that will encourage teachers especially those with artistic ability to be of help for those teacher who wants to create their own big book but do not have skills in drawing and illustrations. Teachers must also be motivated to make their stories that will tackle topics that displays a low mastery level among their learners to augment remediation and enhancement. Master teachers must conduct monitoring and evaluation on the use of big book through demonstration teaching to know the level of effectiveness of the said learning tools in enhancing the skills and knowledge of the learners and make a recognition on the job well done by the teachers who will do so. Principal of every school should look on the considerable results of this study for the purpose of usability and effectiveness of the learning tool in their own respective schools.
Further research is recommended to verify the results of this study and the effectiveness of the big book on enhancing the skills and knowledge of the learners in every least mastered skill. Mapping out of teachers who are needing training and seminar in storytelling and creating stories, and giving them priority to further enhance their knowledge and skills on the said category will help them know the proper use of every style to relate to their teaching-learning process in the most appropriate way.