A4L Units

Program Development

Together with a  committed community of teachers, artists, and researchers, Young Audiences has developed six instructional units, all of which include A4L lessons, residencies, assessment tools and professional development. This replicable national model is focused on effective practices designed to promote strategies for “learning to learn” as reflective thinkers and creative problem-solvers. Teachers and their students participate in iterative cycles of development, reflection, assessment and revision.

The result is a proven program that engages students and raises their levels of achievement in literacy and the arts. Additionally, the program has been shown to increase achievement in the learning and life skills that are important for promoting life-long learning such as creative problem-solving, critical thinking and analytic thinking, collaboration and communication.

Unit Descriptions

The six instructional units are adaptable for grades 3-6 and include 12-18 hours of sequential, cumulative lessons.

Character Clues in Action!

Literacy Objectives: Character perspective, character traits, making inferences and story elements
Texts: The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka and Toys Go Out by Emily Jenkins
Art Form: Theater (Tableau and Vocal Expression)

Graphic Story Adventures

Literacy Objectives: Story elements, visualization, author’s choice, prediction, sequencing and summarization
Texts: My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett and Meanwhile by Jules Feiffer
Art Form: Visual Art (Graphic Novels)

Everyday Heroes

Literacy Objectives: Determining importance, synthesizing, note-taking and reading nonfiction texts
Texts: Roberto Clemente by Jonah Winter and three informational texts
Art Form: Visual Art (Collage)

Planting a Community

Literacy Objectives: Theme, making inferences, and annotating the text
Text: Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman
Art Form: Music (Themes and Composition)

Words in Motion!

Literacy Objectives: Word exploration, author’s choice, reading with expression and writing free-verse poetry
Texts: Six free-verse poems
Art Form: Dance (Movement and Choreography)

Authors & Actors

Literacy Objectives: Writing personal narratives (story beginnings, descriptions, story endings)
Texts: Knucklehead by Jon Scieszka, Best Friends by Mary Beth Olsen and The Wall by Eve Bunting

Translate »
Scroll to Top