• Universal emotional literacy program delivered through stories, videos, and activities

• Fun multimedia lessons teach children to understand, express, and manage their emotions

• Includes innovative online system to support easy and effective implementation

Adventures in Emotional Literacy: 2nd Grade addresses the following emotions:

• Cheerful
• Down
• Frustrated
• Fearful
• Amazed
• Self-respected
• Embarrassed
• Isolated
• Bold

Everything you need to deliver the program is available online, including:

• Online provider training (completion certificate available)
• Professional manual
• Storybooks
• My Storybook of Emotions journal cover
• Group discussion cards
• Character posters
• Video versions of storybooks

Product Samples:

• Professional Manual table of contents
• Sample unit guide
• Sample storybook

See how Adventures in Emotional Literacy: 2nd Grade aligns with the Common Core State Standards.

Research has found that emotional literacy is critical for students to perform to the best of their abilities at school. Adventures in Emotional Literacy (AEL) helps students learn to recognize, label, understand, express, and regulate emotions while also achieving Common Core goals for English Language Arts.

“Emotional intelligence” is defined as an individual’s ability to perceive emotions, use emotions to assist thought, understand emotions, and regulate emotions (Mayer, 2001). Emotionally intelligent individuals are able to competently recognize and regulate their own emotions and are successful at recognizing emotions in others. Adventures in Emotional Literacy is a school-based intervention designed to promote these skills in elementary school students.

Unlike other forms of intelligence, research has shown that emotional intelligence can be learned and developed with experience (Goleman, 1995; Mayer et al., 2000), such as through the AEL program. The concept of “Emotional Literacy” comes from this idea that emotional intelligence can be learned through formal instruction (Brackett & Rivers, 2007). Emotional literacy interventions are designed to improve emotion knowledge and skills and to promote self-confidence, resiliency, and positive social interaction (Brackett & Rivers, 2007; Mayer & Salovey, 1997). Schools are a particularly good setting for emotional literacy interventions because they provide many opportunities for students to learn about emotions through interactions with peers.

Learning about emotions can have many potential benefits for elementary school students. Studies have shown that the ability to recognize emotions in others is positively linked to social adjustment in school (Izard, et al., 2001). Students who are better able to regulate their own emotions are also more successful in making and keeping friends (Gottman, 1997). In addition to social benefits, emotional literacy has been linked to academic success (Zins, et al., 2004). Students who are emotionally literate and who practice these skills often are more likely to be attentive in the classroom, to communicate verbally about feelings, and to have good relationships with their teachers and peers (Zins et al., 2004). Because these students are more actively engaged in their academic lessons, the likelihood that they will retain new knowledge is increased (Lopes & Salovey, 2004). These students also report greater enjoyment of school (Christenson & Harvey, 2004).

Two recent studies have established the efficacy of the Adventures in Literacy curriculum. In one study, 172 kindergarten through second grade students were randomly assigned to intervention (AEL) or non-intervention classrooms. After the intervention, students who had participated in the AEL program were better able to recognize their own emotions as well as emotions in others, as compared to their peers who did not receive the program. Results also showed that students in the AEL classrooms demonstrated greater growth in prosocial orientation than did their peers. Most students (92%) also reported that they enjoyed learning about emotions and wanted to do more activities like those offered in the AEL curriculum.

Another study of 135 kindergarten through second grade students showed that students’ emotion vocabularies increased significantly over the course of the program. When asked to name all of the emotions they could think of, students were significantly more likely to name the words scared, surprised, shocked, proud, and confident after completing the intervention. Prior to the intervention, each student named an average of 2.79 emotion words. After the intervention, each child was able to spontaneously name 4.39 emotion words.

RTI, PBIS, and MTSS

Schools are required to use a system of accountability called Response to Intervention (RTI) and Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). A number of states are moving to the Multi-tiered System of Supports (MTSS) model to incorporate RTI and PBIS.

MTSS is designed to ensure that educators provide high-quality instruction and intervention matched to student needs using (1) learning rate over time and (2) level of performance to inform instructional decisions.

Adventures in Emotional Literacy (AEL) Alignment with RTI, PBIS, and MTSS

AEL meets the Tier 1 requirements of these models by teaching critical skills in the area of emotional regulation.

Why choose AEL for your Tier 1 emotional regulation intervention? Because AEL:

• Is evidence-based
• Provides a structured curriculum designed for classroom instruction
• Teaches emotional regulation skills in a developmentally sequenced manner in grades K-5
• Includes comprehensive online provider training and extensive implementation resources for use before and throughout program implementation
• Includes an integrated online assessment system for measurement of implementation fidelity, participant progress, and participant outcomes, as well as behavioral probes with learning extensions