WHAT’S THE WORD ON THE ‘STREET’?

The 38th Season Of Award-Winning Sesame Street Premieres On PBS KIDS® August 13th With New Curriculum Focusing On Literacy

New York, June 29, 2007
For 38 years, Sesame Street has sought to meet the critical needs of children while preparing them for preschool. With the help of Elmo, Big Bird and their friends, the groundbreaking show’s 38^th experimental season premieres August 13^th on PBS KIDS (check local listings) and features a new curriculum focusing on early literacy and language skills.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, literacy still remains a critical educational need¹. Sesame Street has always been committed to putting young children on a positive trajectory for learning. Therefore, season 38 will emphasize the fundamentals of early literacy such as rhyming, vocabulary and letter sounds known to be predictors of later reading skills. In addition, the much adored Abby Cadabby, who was introduced last year, will be in all 26 episodes this season and reinforces the literacy focus with her love of words and use of rhyming.   

“Developing a rich vocabulary and a love of words at a young age helps children become better prepared for school and more successful readers,” said Dr. Rosemarie Truglio, Vice President Education and Research for Sesame Workshop. “During this season of Sesame Street, our mission is to provide children with basic tools to help them develop their early literacy and language skills. We know that learning is enhanced when an adult watches Sesame Street with a child because the lessons on the show can then be extended into the child’s daily routine which fosters a love of learning.” 

Carol-Lynn Parente, Executive Producer of Sesame Street adds, “We were particularly struck by the statistics illustrating the vast discrepancy in the size of a child’s vocabulary between middle and lower income families²." She continued, “Research has shown that preschoolers who watch Sesame Street are more likely to show signs of emerging literacy skills and overall, are better prepared for school³. It is our hope to make learning new words fun and encourage parents and caregivers to take an active role in expanding the vocabulary of their child.”

As part of this year’s literacy focus, each new episode begins with a “What's the Word on the Street?" interview with people and animals of all ages who introduce and define the day's "Word on the Street."  To help reinforce language development, these 26 new words, such as "tricycle," "predicament" and "squid," are repeated later in the show as part of the "street" story and in a series of hilarious celebrity segments in which stars such as Jon Stewart and Ellen DeGeneres explain the meaning of the day's word.

Along with these segments, this season will feature all new “street” scenes as well as new animation, and original live action films all designed to expand a child’s vocabulary and give them the tools to strengthen their literacy skills. Storylines include: “The Amazing Alphabet Race” where Elmo knows his ABC’s so well he’s been chosen as a contestant to find all the letters of the alphabet; and “The Letter ‘P’ Game” in which Alan teaches Zoe and Elmo to find things that start with the letter ‘P.’  

Sesame Street Season 38 welcomes a new character to its cast this year. Chris, the nephew of Gordon and Susan, moves to Sesame Street to find a job, and after several comic attempts, finally lands a job at Hooper’s Store working for Alan.  

As always, new episodes will feature well known celebrity guests including; Grammy nominated artists Chris Brown and James Blunt; 30 Rock’s Tina Fey; celebrity chef Rachael Ray; New York Jets players Chad Pennington, Laveranues Coles, Ben Graham, and coach Eric Mangini; CNN anchor Anderson Cooper; and Country Music Award-winning duo Sugarland. In its classic style of humor and wit, Sesame Street embraces pop culture with parodies such as “Meal or No Meal,” a parody of the hit television game show Deal or No Deal featuring a Howie Mandel look-a-like puppet; “American ‘I’,” a parody of the popular FOX series American Idol; “A’s Anatomy,” a parody of ABC’s drama Grey’s Anatomy; “GNN: Letter in the News,” with Anderson Cooper of CNN featuring grouch anchors Walter Cranky and Dan Rather-Not; and many more! 

Season 38 will also feature five new “Elmo’s World” segments where Elmo will be thinking about Violins, Noses, Mouths, Helping and the Beach.  

Season 38 of Sesame Street is funded in part by a grant through the Public Broadcasting Service and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and public television viewers. Sesame Street is underwritten in part by the McDonald’s Corporation, Beaches Family Resorts, Earth’s Best, EverydayKidz.com from Astra Zeneca, and New Balance.

About Sesame Workshop

Sesame Workshop is the nonprofit educational organization that changed television forever with the legendary Sesame Street.  As the single largest informal educator of young children, local Sesame Street programs produced in countries as diverse as South Africa, Bangladesh and India are making a difference in over 120 nations. Using proprietary research to create engaging and enriching content, Sesame Workshop produces programs such as Dragon Tales and Pinky Dinky Doo. In addition, multimedia needs-driven initiatives provide families tools for addressing such issues as children’s health, military deployment and emergency preparedness.  As a nonprofit, product proceeds and philanthropic support endow Sesame Workshop’s educational research and creative content for children around the world.  Learn more at www.sesameworkshop.org.

About PBS KIDS and PBS KIDS GO!

PBS KIDS, for preschoolers, and PBS KIDS GO!, for early elementary school kids, are committed to providing the highest quality non-commercial content and learning environment for children across the country. Providing age-appropriate, diverse programming for kids, PBS KIDS and PBS KIDS GO! programs consistently earn more prestigious awards than any other broadcast or cable network. Only PBS KIDS and PBS KIDS GO! have earned the unanimous endorsement of parents, children, industry leaders and teachers. With additional PBS resources to complement its programming, including PBS KIDS online (pbskids.org), PBS KIDS GO! online (pbskidsgo.org), PBS Parents (pbsparents.org), PBS Teachers (pbs.org/teachers), PBS Ready To Learn services and literacy events across the country, PBS is providing the tools necessary for positive child development. PBS is a nonprofit media enterprise owned and operated by the nation’s 355 public television stations, serving nearly 90 million people each week and reaching 99% of American homes. 

Contact

Stephanie Baumoel/Lindsay Gallagher
FerenComm for Sesame Workshop
212-983-9898

¹U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). 2005. The Nations Report Card: Reading 2005. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

²Dickinson, D.K. & Neuman, S. (Eds.), (2006). Handbook of early literacy research: Vol II. New York: Guilford Publications.

³Wright, J.C., Huston, A.C., Scantlin, R.M., and Kotler, J.A. (2001). The Early Window project: Sesame Street prepares children for school. In S. Fisch and R. Truglio (Eds.). "G" is for "Growing": Thirty years of research on Sesame Street. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 97-114.