This study examined the effects of three modes of story reconstruction training on the development of children's story comprehension. One hundred and eight children in grades K to 2 were randomly assigned to one of three training conditions: thematic-fantasy play, adult lead discussion, or drawing. The children were read three books on separate occasions and then exposed to one of the conditions. Children in the thematic-fantasy play condition, after being read each story, were asked by the experimenter to play out the story they had just heard. The play episodes were videotaped. Children in the discussion group were asked evaluative and clarification questions about the stories (i.e., "Did you like the story? What did you like about the story? Why?"). All discussions were audiotaped. Children in the drawing condition were told by the experimenter to draw as much about the story as they could. A two-factor criterion referenced test and a free recall task were used to analyze story comprehension. The resulting data revealed that second graders' performance on all comprehension measures was superior to the younger children's performance. Thematic-fantasy play was the most effective facilitator of all types of comprehension, particulary for kindergarten children. (Author/MP)