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Goals
Specific goals for Arthur vary by season depending on the theme, yet the underlying educational outreach goals remain constant: to promote emergent literacy skills in children ages 4-8, including reading, writing, and speaking, and to get kids excited about books. This is achieved by disseminating a wide range of educational tools and resources to teachers, librarians, parents, and child care providers.
Target Audience
The target audiences are educators, parents, and other caregivers of young children, ages 4-8. (See the table under Educational Outreach Elements for a list of audiences by theme and season.)
Standards Addressed
Arthur outreach resources are based on formative and summative research completed in different seasons. This research examined how to best support emergent literacy in children. Findings showed that both parents and teachers want materials that provide concrete literacy development for children in which children can see their lives and struggles reflected, that are easy to navigate, and are visually friendly and accessible. Arthur resources are visually appealing and focus on concrete skill development like writing and reading, regardless of the theme or topic being covered. In addition, Arthur characters send strong, clear messages about the importance of diligence and practice to achieve success. Two examples are the programs about Buster and George's difficulty learning to read and D. W.'s struggle in learning to write her name so that she can get a library card.
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