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Sam and Friends BookThe Knoxville News Sentinel has a "Mini Page" every Sunday in the paper - this page is full of little fun activities like word searches, recipes, jokes, etc for the kiddies, as well as informative insight into whatever the topic is for the week.
This week's topic was all about SST in celebration of its 40 season this year; here's what each little article had to say...
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Happy Birthday, 'Sesame Street'!
Did you watch "Sesame Street" when you were younger? Did your parents? Maybe you share the same favorite characters.
"Sesame Street" has been teaching and playing with kids for 40 years. It was first shown on Nov. 10, 1969. Now it is the most popular children's TV show in the world.
In honor ot if birthday, The Mini Page talked with some of the people watching over this special program.
B is for Beginning
Forty years ago, there wasn't many well-made educational children's shows on national TV. In 1966, a group of caring people met to change that.
They were especially concerned about helping kids in families that did not have much money. These kids had fewer opportunities to learn.
This group created "Sesame Street" to help teach all kids, especially those with fewer advantages.
"Sesame Street" soon began stressing vocabulary. One study showed that the poorest kids knew about 5,000 words by the time they went to kindergarten. But children from middle-and-high-income families knew about 20,000 words by then. This put low-income kids behind, and most of them never caught up.
S is for Sesame
"Open Sesame" are magical words in a fairy tale from "The Arabian Nights." In the story, this phrase opened the door to a cave full of fabulous riches.
A is for Adults
"Sesame Street" creators made the show fun for parents too. They hoped parents would watch the show with their kids. Everybody in the family could talk about it together, and kids would learn the lessons even better.
"Sesame Street" has layers of meanings in each show. There are some jokes just for younger children, and some jokes for older kids and adults.
Experts say younger kids really like physical comedy[/i], or comedy with the body. They think jokes about toes wiggling are the funniest things they've seen.
Older children start understanding word jokes. Adults and older kids get jokes about events in the news.
Today, all writers for "Sesame Street" have to be good comedy writers. Many of them are top writers for regular comedy shows as well.
Meet Joan Ganz Cooney
Joan Ganz Cooney is a co-founder of "Sesame Street"; it was her idea. She also helped create other children's educational programs, including "The Electric Company", "3-2-1 Contact" and "Dragon Tales."
Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind "Sesame Street" and other kids' programmming, has set up a new organization to improve older kids' reading and writing skills. It will work with digital entertainment such as video games. The new institute was named the Joan Ganz Cooney Center in her honor.
Before "Sesame Street", Joan worked as a reporter. She later produced documentaries, or true stories, for a public TV station.
Joan, 79, is still active in Sesame Workshop. She was born in Phoenix, and now lives in New York City.
Stars of the Show
M is for Muppets
It is hard to imagine "Sesame Street" without the Muppets. But the show's founders didn't plan to feature Muppets so much. Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch were the only regular Muppets during the first season. Bert and Ernie showed up once in a while.
The Muppets were created by puppet artist Jim Henson. He was putting on Muppet shows for adults when "Sesame Street" founder Joan Ganz Cooney met him. She convinced him to work on special Muppets for "Sesame Street". Kermit the Frog is the only Muppet who also appeared in Henson's other shows.
People loved the Muppets so much that they became the stars of the show.
C is for Celebrity
Celebrity guests also make the show fun for kids and adults. Kids who watch a show with singer Paul Simon, for example, might enjoy his singing. But adults may have loved his music for years.
Today, "Sesame Street" itself is the celebrity. There is a long waiting list of famous people who want to appear on the program.
N is for Neighborhood
Because many low-income kids live in inner-city neighborhoods, the show's creators decided their show should take place on a city street named Sesame Street.
The show was filled with girls and boys, young and old, and people of all races and backgrounds. Nobody had ever before featured a neighborhood full of friends from different cultures.
Mini Jokes
Mary: What is Oscar the Grouch called when he has a bad posture?
Molly: Oscar the Slouch!
Maddox: What is the Count's favorite food?
Marvin: A necktarine!
Mabel: Why did the Cookie Monster make an appointment with the doctor?
Madison: Because he felt crumby!
'Sesame Street' World
E is for Education
Each season, educators help the show's writers figure out what subjects should be on the show.
Besides letter and numbers, "Sesame Street" teachers the joys of differences. It shows how to get along with others. This year, it will also teach about the wonders of nature.
R is for Readers
Studies have shown that children who started watching "Sesame Street" when they were 2 to 3 years old scored much higher on tests. As they grew up, they spent more time reading. They did better all the way through high school.
Studies have also shown that kids who have watched "Sesame Street" are more accepting of others.
W is for World
Kids all over the world know about "Sesame Street". It is show in about 130 countries. Sometimes countries show the original American program in English. Sometimes they put everything into their own language. About 30 countries create entirely new shows.
In every country, educational advisers from that nation decide what the show should teach.
Many countries have strong message about the importance of edcuating girls, because in many cultures, girls are not allowed to learn to read and write.
"Galli Galli Sim Sim"
In India, some of the poorest areas are in the city slums. To bring their version of "Sesame Street", "Galli Galli Sim Sim", to kids, workers pull the equipment on vegetable carts. These carts can get through the narrow alleyways.
Their Muppets include Boombah, a lion who likes vegetables; Aanchoo, who sneezes a lot; and Chamki, a little girl in a school uniform.
****
Naturally, I'm going to clip these little pieces and paste them into my Muppet scrapbook, I mean after all, SST Season 40 is serious business, lol.
This week's topic was all about SST in celebration of its 40 season this year; here's what each little article had to say...
****
Happy Birthday, 'Sesame Street'!
Did you watch "Sesame Street" when you were younger? Did your parents? Maybe you share the same favorite characters.
"Sesame Street" has been teaching and playing with kids for 40 years. It was first shown on Nov. 10, 1969. Now it is the most popular children's TV show in the world.
In honor ot if birthday, The Mini Page talked with some of the people watching over this special program.
B is for Beginning
Forty years ago, there wasn't many well-made educational children's shows on national TV. In 1966, a group of caring people met to change that.
They were especially concerned about helping kids in families that did not have much money. These kids had fewer opportunities to learn.
This group created "Sesame Street" to help teach all kids, especially those with fewer advantages.
"Sesame Street" soon began stressing vocabulary. One study showed that the poorest kids knew about 5,000 words by the time they went to kindergarten. But children from middle-and-high-income families knew about 20,000 words by then. This put low-income kids behind, and most of them never caught up.
S is for Sesame
"Open Sesame" are magical words in a fairy tale from "The Arabian Nights." In the story, this phrase opened the door to a cave full of fabulous riches.
A is for Adults
"Sesame Street" creators made the show fun for parents too. They hoped parents would watch the show with their kids. Everybody in the family could talk about it together, and kids would learn the lessons even better.
"Sesame Street" has layers of meanings in each show. There are some jokes just for younger children, and some jokes for older kids and adults.
Experts say younger kids really like physical comedy[/i], or comedy with the body. They think jokes about toes wiggling are the funniest things they've seen.
Older children start understanding word jokes. Adults and older kids get jokes about events in the news.
Today, all writers for "Sesame Street" have to be good comedy writers. Many of them are top writers for regular comedy shows as well.
Meet Joan Ganz Cooney
Joan Ganz Cooney is a co-founder of "Sesame Street"; it was her idea. She also helped create other children's educational programs, including "The Electric Company", "3-2-1 Contact" and "Dragon Tales."
Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind "Sesame Street" and other kids' programmming, has set up a new organization to improve older kids' reading and writing skills. It will work with digital entertainment such as video games. The new institute was named the Joan Ganz Cooney Center in her honor.
Before "Sesame Street", Joan worked as a reporter. She later produced documentaries, or true stories, for a public TV station.
Joan, 79, is still active in Sesame Workshop. She was born in Phoenix, and now lives in New York City.
Stars of the Show
M is for Muppets
It is hard to imagine "Sesame Street" without the Muppets. But the show's founders didn't plan to feature Muppets so much. Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch were the only regular Muppets during the first season. Bert and Ernie showed up once in a while.
The Muppets were created by puppet artist Jim Henson. He was putting on Muppet shows for adults when "Sesame Street" founder Joan Ganz Cooney met him. She convinced him to work on special Muppets for "Sesame Street". Kermit the Frog is the only Muppet who also appeared in Henson's other shows.
People loved the Muppets so much that they became the stars of the show.
C is for Celebrity
Celebrity guests also make the show fun for kids and adults. Kids who watch a show with singer Paul Simon, for example, might enjoy his singing. But adults may have loved his music for years.
Today, "Sesame Street" itself is the celebrity. There is a long waiting list of famous people who want to appear on the program.
N is for Neighborhood
Because many low-income kids live in inner-city neighborhoods, the show's creators decided their show should take place on a city street named Sesame Street.
The show was filled with girls and boys, young and old, and people of all races and backgrounds. Nobody had ever before featured a neighborhood full of friends from different cultures.
Mini Jokes
Mary: What is Oscar the Grouch called when he has a bad posture?
Molly: Oscar the Slouch!
Maddox: What is the Count's favorite food?
Marvin: A necktarine!
Mabel: Why did the Cookie Monster make an appointment with the doctor?
Madison: Because he felt crumby!
'Sesame Street' World
E is for Education
Each season, educators help the show's writers figure out what subjects should be on the show.
Besides letter and numbers, "Sesame Street" teachers the joys of differences. It shows how to get along with others. This year, it will also teach about the wonders of nature.
R is for Readers
Studies have shown that children who started watching "Sesame Street" when they were 2 to 3 years old scored much higher on tests. As they grew up, they spent more time reading. They did better all the way through high school.
Studies have also shown that kids who have watched "Sesame Street" are more accepting of others.
W is for World
Kids all over the world know about "Sesame Street". It is show in about 130 countries. Sometimes countries show the original American program in English. Sometimes they put everything into their own language. About 30 countries create entirely new shows.
In every country, educational advisers from that nation decide what the show should teach.
Many countries have strong message about the importance of edcuating girls, because in many cultures, girls are not allowed to learn to read and write.
"Galli Galli Sim Sim"
In India, some of the poorest areas are in the city slums. To bring their version of "Sesame Street", "Galli Galli Sim Sim", to kids, workers pull the equipment on vegetable carts. These carts can get through the narrow alleyways.
Their Muppets include Boombah, a lion who likes vegetables; Aanchoo, who sneezes a lot; and Chamki, a little girl in a school uniform.
****
Naturally, I'm going to clip these little pieces and paste them into my Muppet scrapbook, I mean after all, SST Season 40 is serious business, lol.
