 |
 
Each exciting segment
of the new Sesame Street show addresses specific educational goals, which
are then reinforced with engaging activities on the Web site. Click on the
links below to learn more!
|
Sesame
Story, Live Action Films and Interviews
Join the Sesame Street Muppets and friends such as Maria, Gina,
Gordon, Miles, and Gabi as they explore the world of the young child.
Viewers are drawn into the neighborhood in which their Sesame friends
live. They take part in a variety of stories focusing on rich, age-appropriate
themes, which are relevant in the lives of preschoolers and their
caregivers. For example, the arrival of a new baby in the family!
That's right! Baby Bear has a new sister, Curly Bear, whom he named
himself. As Baby Bear copes with his conflicting emotions about
what it means to be the four bears rather than the three bears,
he learns a lot of important skills and also gradually realizes
that there are a lot of reasons to love a baby sister even if she's
frustrating sometimes. As Curly Bear grows into a toddler, Baby
Bear becomes her teacher and her support and he learns that she
can't figure out everything all at once. He also learns that Curly
Bear might not be as little as she seems. Her growl is louder than
Baby Bear's growl and Papa Bear's growl!
Across a whole season of "street story" segments, the whole child
curriculum is featured, focusing on cognitive, physical, social,
and emotional objectives. Children follow the narrative of the story
from beginning, middle, to end which is an important literacy objective.
Live Actions Films and Interviews: Where appropriate, the
street story may be followed by films or interviews with children.
For example, following a street story focusing on friendship, children
may discuss what it means to be a friend. These follow-up segments
strengthen the educational content of the street stories and children
at home hear information straight from the mouths of their peers.
|
| Related
Fun on the Site
|
Extend
The Learning
-
It's story time! Start reading a favorite book and as
you read point out what happens at the beginning of the story.
When you get to the middle call children's attention to this
and highlight exactly what evolves during this time in the story.
Before you get to the end say, "We are getting close to the
end. What do you think will happen next?" As children offer
their ideas or think back and try to remember exactly what happens
in this particular story, point out language children might
use. "At the end" or "then it was over" "they were finished"
etc. This kind of exercise can foster children's language development
and sense of story structure. Now, continue reading the story
to the end. It's over, but the storytelling doesn't have to
be! Can children come up with their own new endings?
-
Parade coming through! Elmo starts his own parade on
Sesame Street and it gradually gets longer and longer as he
goes. All of his friends join in and they have a ball! Start
a parade at home or in the classroom. What are the different
instruments you might play in a parade? Encourage your child
to pretend to be playing a variety of instruments from drums,
to a horn, to a flute. Choose upbeat background music and play
it as you march! Take turns leading the parade. The child in
front can carry a scarf to wave like a flag or simply carry
a pretend flag. There is always something for everyone to do
including singing, dancing, and clapping as you march together.
-
A new baby on the way! Baby Bear has a new sister, Curly
Bear, and he is excited and frustrated at the very same time.
He gradually learns that there a lot of things she'ís not ready
to do. Talk to children about the things that they can already
do, that babies cannot. Ask children how they would try to teach
a baby how to do something for the first time? Use stuffed toys
or dolls to help children pretend they are caring for a baby.
Prompt children to show their babies a storybook or sing a song.
This kind of imaginative play can promote children'ís later
ability to develop positive sibling relationships and can enhance
preschoolers' self-confidence.
- Friends all around! On Sesame Street, Elmo, Telly, Baby
Bear, and Zoe get into a debate about which one of them has the
best pet. They all believe their pet is the best in the whole
wide world! Maria helps them realize that each pet is the best
for each of them. Talk to children about what it means to be friends
with someone? How do they show that they want to be someone's
friend? What happens when friends get into arguments? How can
friends solve problems together so that they can work as a team
again? Even Zoe and Elmo get mad at each other sometimes, but
they always work things out together.
After watching
Sesame Street, encourage children to talk about what they see and
hear in the show!
|
back to
top
Cookie
Monster's Letter of the Day
Cookie Monster's Letter of the Day segment can help children take
their first important steps towards learning to recognize letters
and, eventually, to learning to read. Every day, Cookie tries to restrain
himself from eating the letter of the day. Sometimes he even gets
help from Prairie Dawn!
Of course, each day he eventually eats the scrumptious letter but
he really does try not to. As he struggles, children go on an exploration
of what the letter looks like, what it sounds like, and that it may
have two sounds. Children see how letters combine to make words, which
are shown on screen.
Multiple animations and live action films follow Cookie's introduction.
These segments highlight additional, crucial liter
acy objectives such
as rhyming and vocabulary building.
|
Related
Fun on the Site
|
Extend
the Learning
-
Your own letter of the day! Introduce a letter of the
day just like Cookie Monster does on Sesame Street. Look around
together. Are there things in the room that start with this
letter? Ask children to search for the letter as a capital and
also as it looks in lower-case. If they need help, write the
lower-case and upper-case letter that they can use as a reference.
Once children find examples of objects, pictures, or written
words that start with this letter, say the words out loud and
listen for the sound the letter makes. Is this a letter that
has two sounds like the short 'A' in 'apple' and in the long
'A' sound in 'ape'? What if you find a 'circle' and a 'cup'?
Introduce children to the short and long and hard and soft sounds
that certain letters have.
-
Alphabet Mistake Game Pretend that you have forgotten
how to say the alphabet! Tell children that you need some serious
help in remembering how to say all 26 letters. Start saying
the alphabet and skip letters as you go. "Okay, I'm going
to try again, a, b, c, d, f, g, i . . oops!" children will
already be laughing and correcting your mistake. This game is
always fun as children get to be the experts. As children listen
for missing letters and make corrections the alphabet is reinforced
for children still learning.
|
back to
top
Spanish
Word of the Day with Rosita
This lively segment
features the friendly Muppet, Rosita, who is from Mexico and fluent
in Spanish. She and her friends introduce viewers to a new Spanish
word each day. Words are introduced in a meaningful context that relates
to the definition of the word and Rosita shows what each word means
using a variety of props and actions.
|
|
Related
Fun on the Site
The "Spanish
Word of the Day" game, like the show segment, encourages cultural
appreciation while teaching children Spanish words. In this activity,
Rosita asks children to find four common objects within familiar
environments, based on their Spanish names.
|
|
Extend the
Learning
-
Play
a game and learn Spanish words!
Children can more effectively learn and use new words if they
understand them in context. As children are learning Spanish
verbs, it can be helpful to have them act out the words as they
say them. This game allows children to do just this. Introduce
your child to the word, "Paren!" which means "Stop!" Say, "Corran!"
and prompt children to run in place. "Corran" means "run." Say,
"Bailen!" and get everyone to dance. "Bailen!" means "Dance!"
in Spanish. Now say, "Salten!" which means "Jump!" in Spanish
and get everyone jumping! Now say, "Paren! or Stop" Everyone
should stop moving. Try this again switching from each action
verb. This can be fun to do indoors and outside! You can model
what children are meant to do after each command you give. Thus,
children can remember the meaning of each word as they watch,
move, and listen.
-
I can
speak Spanish. You can use the words taught on Sesame Street
with everyday activities. Make labels in Spanish and English
for things you have in the room such as milk, flower, and water.
Demonstrate ideas like open and close, yes and no in English
and in Spanish. If you have children who speak Spanish in your
group, ask them to teach others how to pronounce the words.
At circle time, you can practice by pointing to the different
objects and saying their names in Spanish: leche (milk);
flor (flower); agua (water); casa (house);
abierto/cerrado (open/close); no/sÌ (no/yes).
|
back
to top
|
Global
Grover
Global Grover is aimed at promoting respect and appreciation for
others through exposure to a rich variety of celebrations, traditions,
and daily routines of children around the world. In celebrating
such unique aspects of other cultures, Global Grover also provides
examples of common themes and experiences that are shared by children
and their families and friends, regardless of cultural background.
|
|
Related
Fun on the Site
|
|
Extend the
Learning
-
Getting
ready for school Grover takes viewers around the world to
investigate the many different ways that kids might get to school.
They might ride on a camel, or take a boat, or a train, or maybe
they walk to a school nearby. How do your children get to school?
Have children imagine what it would be like to go to school
another way. Create a list of childrenís ideas for new ways
they could get to school and then encourage children to draw
a picture of themselves on their way to school.
-
Getting
hungry? Grover has just returned from Egypt with his exhausted
camel friend, Sydney, who is carrying a basket of food in his
mouth. Grover has visited his friend, Ahmed, on an Egyptian
farm where farmers are making "aysh," their own type of bread,
eating different kinds of foods, and milking their goats. Talk
to your children about the kinds of foods they eat in the United
States. What are their favorite foods? What foods do they make
with their families? Work with children to figure out where
various foods come from before they arrive in the grocery store.
Do some children go to a farm to get vegetables? Look in magazines
or find storybooks about foods around the world. There is so
much yummy discovering to do!
|
back
to top
|
Global
Thingy
Global Thingy helps his other thingy friends figure out how to work
through problems, cooperate, take turns, teach each other new skills,
and help each other in a variety of ways. These are all crucial
skills that help children succeed in school and can be strong foundations
that last through children’s lives.
|
|
Extend the
Learning
-
Make
others smile! Children are often looking for ways to help
others but may feel like there is nothing they can do. Together,
think of ways they can make a difference. If someone is feeling
sick, how could they help him or her feel better? They can make
pictures, draw cards, and sing songs to make someone smile.
If they miss people who may live far away, they can work with
adults to bake cookies, wrap them in paper, and send them to
these friends and family who probably miss them too!
-
Helpers
for a day If you are working with a group of children or
siblings, have them pair up and become helping buddies for the
day. Instead of asking an adult for help, they can first try
to help each other, looking out for each other as the go about
their day.
|
back
to top
|
Journey
to Ernie
The goal of Journey to Ernie is to actively engage children in the
process of thinking things through as they play a game of hide and
seek with Ernie and Big Bird. JTE encourages children to think out
loud as they talk back to the screen and try to help Big Bird figure
out the clues. This segment incorporates various skills such as
sound identification, matching, size comparison, and pattern recognition
as children are helping Big Bird answer the question, ìWhere is
Ernie hiding?î
|
|
Related
Fun on the Site
|
|
Extend the
Learning
-
Hide
and Seek! Play your own game of hide and seek with children.
Hide an item in the classroom or at home and start off by giving
children one clue about where it is. As they think about this
clue, they can either ask for another hint or start to move
to where they think the item might be hidden. As they move,
let them know if they are getting ëwarmerí or ëcolderí as they
move closer to and further away from the hidden object. Once
a child finds it, it is his or her turn to hide something when
everyone else closes their eyes. Now, see if the child can give
clues to you! Itís under something and over something. Itís
wrapped up in something soft. Itís bigger than my foot. Etc.
-
Make
a match You can work with children to make their own matching
game. Cut up pictures from magazines or old newspapers into
three sections (the top, the middle, and the bottom). For younger
children you may want to start by cutting the picture into only
two parts, a top and a bottom. Cover the side of the picture
that will not be the matching side with white paper. Start out
with just a few pictures cut into the three sections and move
onto more if children are ready for more of a challenge.
Put all pieces face down on the floor with the white side facing
down and the pictures facing up. Can children find the three
parts of each picture and put them back together? Now, turn
all of the pictures face down with the white part facing up.
Play a memory game as children turn the pictures over and try
to make a match!
-
Sound
Searching Use a tape recorder and go on a search for sounds.
Record anything you hear inside, on a playground, in a park,
and on a busy street. Now, when you come back, play the tape
and see if children can guess what might be making each sound
that they hear.
-
Sense
riddles Put a mystery item into a brown paper bag. It could
be a rattle, a plush toy, a spoon, an apple, or anything else
that won't break. At circle time, ask children to guess what
is in the bag. Pass the bag around. Encourage children to use
their different senses. What does it feel like? Is it heavy
or light? Is it hard or soft? What does it smell like? What
does it sound like? Write down their observations. When they
figure it out, invite children to think of other objects that
may have similar qualities. For example, "What are other soft,
heavy or hard things?"
|
back
to top
|
Number
of the Day with the Count
Each day Count von Count (aka the Count) sits at his organ and asks
kids at home to guess what the number of the day will be as he plays
each key. This segment (with support from additional inserts focusing
on a variety of mathematical concepts) can strengthen childrenís
understanding of not only what a written number looks like,
but what it means. Follow-up animations and live action films
focus on shapes, measurement, matching, and pattern recognition,
among other concepts, which are relevant for young children.
This section of Sesame Street raises the bar on what we expect children
to understand about number and what numbers mean by illustrating
multiple concepts in clear, age-appropriate ways. The goal is to
clarify the mathematical concepts that children already display
some understanding of in their everyday lives.
|
|
Related
Fun on the Site
|
|
Extend the
Learning
-
What's
the Number of the Day today? Make the Count's Number of
the Day your number of the day. If the number of the day is
9, find ways to highlight this number through everyday activities.
Count 9 steps as children walk. See if they can count faster
as they run! Find objects that add up to 9 in different ways.
For example, three marbles, three bananas, and three pennies.
9 all together! Right before going to bed, count sheep ~ 1,
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. Still not sleepy? Count to 9 again!
-
Celebrate
Shapes! Turn on some favorite dancing music and have a shape
dance party! You can start with a square dance. Show children
how to take one step forward, one to the side, then one step
back, and back to the start. See if children can do a rectangle
dance. Itís the same moves as the square dance except the steps
to the side are looooong steps. Ask children to pick another
shape to dance to! How about a circle shape or an oval? What
would a pentagon dance look like?
|
back
to top
|
Elmo's
World
Elmo, his pet goldfish, Dorothy, and the Noodle family bring a 3-year-old's
world to life through Elmo's own imagination. This interactive section
of the show features a topic of the day which Elmo and his friends
explore in a variety of ways. New topics include wild animals,
ears, firefighters, and bells.
|
|
Related
Fun on the Site
|
|
Extend the
Learning
-
Elmo
loves to exercise! In Elmo's World exercise, Elmo discovers
many activities he can do to stay healthy and strong. He realizes
how important exercise is for his body. Play a game of tag with
your children. When you take a break from running, feel your
neck or wrist for your heartbeat and help children find their
heartbeats as well. Count beats for 10 seconds. How many did
the children count? Talk about how children's hearts need to
beat harder like this to stay in shape. This is how children
can have more energy! Now, do some stretches to keep muscles
healthy. Reach way up to the sky. Reach all the way down to
the ground. See if children can keep their feet in one place
and twist around at their bellies. Reach to the side! Elmo loves
to be healthy and he wants his friends to be healthy too!
-
Sesame
Safari: In Elmo's World wild animals, Elmo learns about
a variety of wild animals and talks about how wild animals are
different from pets. What kind of pets do your children have?
How do they take care of these animals? If children could have
any animal for a pet what would they choose? An elephant? A
seal? A monkey? What would children feed these pets?
Elmo finds out that wild animals usually should not be pets,
but there are wild animals that live at the zoo! If possible,
take a trip to a local zoo with your children. What animals
do they see? Do they see any wild animals that look like animals
that are pets? Does the tiger look at all like a cat they might
have at home? Does the zebra look at all like a horse that could
live with people in a backyard or at a ranch? Talk about the
similarities and differences of the animals children see.
-
Thinking
about Opposites: Elmo learns about the concept of up and
down. He finds things that go up and down, like a seesaw and
a helicopter, a plane, etc. What other things can children think
of that go up and down? What about other opposites? What can
children think of that is hot? What about something cold? What
is something that is really tall? Really short? Encourage children
to use these relational concepts as they talk about what they
see. This can strengthen vocabulary as children grow and learn.
|
back
to top
|
