Introduce symbols first and encourage children to say what they think the symbols might mean.

As the adult tells the story she/he points to the symbols on the storyboard. Opportunities are available for animating the story and characters. Using small pieces of Velcro or blu-tac enables characters (finger puppets) to be moved along the board. For example in the Goldilocks story small pieces of Velcro/ blu-tac attached next to biggest bowl, medium size bowl, and smallest bowl allows Goldilocks to be placed next to these symbols reinforcing key vocabulary. This makes the storyboard even more appealing to the children whilst they are listening to the story and when they eagerly re-tell afterwards. It encourages less confident children to participate.

Another idea could be to start with an empty storyboard and fill as the story unfolds making sure that the symbols have first been introduced.

Storyboards may also be used as an activity with the children afterwards to encourage story sequencing.

Talk about initial phonemes in the words on the board and have another set with the symbol and the word on to refer to. Ask the children to find the matching word.

When the story is finished the storyboard can be used to reinforce key concept words. For example in Goldilocks the teacher could ask, "What was wrong with Daddy Bear's porridge?" The children are encouraged to refer to the symbols if needed to give the answer, too HOT. Other key concept words in this story could be cold, high/low, hard/soft.