How to get on sesame street


Getting to Sesame Street : Throughline : NPR

Getting to Sesame Street : Throughline In American history, schools have not just been places to learn the ABCs – they're places where socialization happens and cultural norms are developed. Arguments over how and what those norms are and how they're communicated tend to flare up during moments of cultural anxiety. Sesame Street was part of a larger movement in the late 1960s to reach lower income, less privileged and more "urban" audiences. It was part of LBJ's Great Society agenda. But Sesame Street is a TV show - not a classroom. And it was funded in part by taxpayer dollars. This story is about how a television show made to represent New York City neighborhoods – like Harlem and the Bronx – has sustained its mark in educating children in a divided country.

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Throughline

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    • Google Podcasts
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Casey Miner

Jennifer Etienne

Amiri Tulloch

Getting to Sesame Street

'Sesame Street' hosts Matt Robinson (Gordon), Will Lee (Mr. Hooper) Loretta Long (Susan) and Bob McGrath (Bob) stand with Big Bird on set, circa 1969. Hulton Archive/Children's Television Workshop/Getty Images hide caption

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Hulton Archive/Children's Television Workshop/Getty Images

'Sesame Street' hosts Matt Robinson (Gordon), Will Lee (Mr. Hooper) Loretta Long (Susan) and Bob McGrath (Bob) stand with Big Bird on set, circa 1969.

Hulton Archive/Children's Television Workshop/Getty Images

In American history, schools have not just been places to learn the ABCs – they're places where socialization happens and cultural norms are developed. Arguments over how and what those norms are and how they're communicated tend to flare up during moments of cultural anxiety. Sesame Street was part of a larger movement in the late 1960s to reach lower income, less privileged and more "urban" audiences. It was part of LBJ's Great Society agenda. But Sesame Street is a TV show - not a classroom. And it was funded in part by taxpayer dollars. This story is about how a television show made to represent New York City neighborhoods – like Harlem and the Bronx – has sustained its mark in educating children in a divided country.

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Do You Know How to Get to Sesame Street? – Mountain Lake PBS

Sesame Street premiered on public television on November 10, 1969. Now, over 50 years later, Sesame Street is still a staple in our homes and hearts.

Sesame Street‘s diverse community of friends —fuzzy, feathered, and human alike—blend valuable life lessons with school readiness skills. For decades, families across the globe have tuned in to iconic characters like Big Bird, Elmo, Maria, and Oscar the Grouch as they teach us our ABCs and 123s with the help of special guests from all walks of life.

Sesame Street was conceived by Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett and from its beginnings it has focused on providing children in underserved communities tools to form positive relationships, build healthy habits, cultivate strong social skills, and appreciate cultural diversity. Sesame Street changed the face of children’s television and continues to positively impact the lives of children worldwide.

Responding to the issues of our times, Sesame Street has evolved to address difficult topics like divorce, racial justice, and health emergencies with age-appropriate and research-informed educational and family resources.

Help your little ones grow smarter, stronger, and kinder with the hands-on activities, games and videos below. And enjoy behind-the-scenes footage and classic Mountain Lake PBS interviews with Sesame Street actors Sonia Manzano, who played Maria, and the late, great Caroll Spinney, who brought to life Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch.

Watch the brand-new season of Sesame Street on the PBS KIDS 24/7 channel, and online with the PBS KIDS Livestream and PBS KIDS Free Video App.

Sesame Street | PBS LearningMedia

Grades PreK-2
Do you know how to get to Sesame Street? This collection is designed to engage preschoolers in everyday learning by teaching core skills in Math, Literacy, STEM, and Social and Emotional Development. Here you’ll find hundreds of videos, games, and printable materials to help you to excite even the youngest learners.

Sesame Street | PBS KIDS for Parents

Grades PreK-3
For over 50 years, preschoolers and their families have watched Sesame Street to see its diverse residents come together to learn life’s lessons. Along with Elmo, Abby, Big Bird, and others, children use their imaginations, build social skills, sing songs, and appreciate everyone’s differences. Explore this collection of articles, printables, hands-on activities, games and apps on PBS KIDS for Parents.

Sesame Street in Communities | Sesame Workshop

Grades PreK-3
Sesame Street in Communities provides parents, caregivers, and family childcare providers with support to help lay the foundations for children’s healthy development. Here you’ll find tons of multi-media tools in both English and Spanish designed for children from birth to six, a period when brains are developing rapidly and nurturing interactions make a lasting difference.  The site covers a wide range of topics, from school readiness to building healthy habits to tough issues such as divorce and hunger.

Elmo’s World Kindness Bingo

Grades PreK-K
Every time your child does an act of kindness, circle it on this printable bingo sheet! Keep going until you’ve circled every space around Elmo.

Grover’s Winter Games

Grades PreK-K
Get ready for skiing, snowboarding, and ice skating! To play Grover’s Winter Games, little learners practice their number and pattern recognition skills, then watch as the athletes perform their moves.

Friendly Face Coloring Page

Grades PreK-K
Draw a picture of a family member, friend, a silly face, or you!

Make a Letter Lunch Menu and Cook it Together

Grades PreK-K
Help your child learn about the letters in the alphabet while you create a delicious meal!

Oscar’s Rotten Ride

Grades PreK-K
Oscar is going on a treasure hunt for trash in the ocean, on the beach, and in space. Your child can help Oscar while learning about spatial relations.

Art Express: Maria on Sesame Street

Mountain Lake PBS producer Paul Larson interviews Sonia Manzano, who plays Maria on Sesame Street, in this classic Art Express segment. Learn about the art and educative value of puppetry and music through television and watch exclusive, behind-the-scenes footage of Sesame Street. Manzano also discusses the importance of celebrating Latin American culture on television during the early 1970s, when few Latin Americans appeared on TV.

Art Express: Big Bird

In 2004, our producer Paul Larson was lucky to interview Caroll Spinney, who shared his experiences playing the biggest, most famous yellow bird on television, and contrasts the character with his grumpier, greener companion, Oscar the Grouch. Watch the interview and see an exclusive behind the scenes look at Sesame Street.

10 bizarre Sesame Street fan theories

Article

Sesame Street has been on the air for nearly 50 years, but there's still so much we don't know about this beloved kids' show. What is a big bird? What happened to Mr. Noodle? And how do you even get to Sesame Street? Fans have filled in these gaps with funny and sometimes bizarre theories about how the gay neighborhood lives. Read them at your own risk, because they will probably ruin your graph.

1. THE THEME SONG CONTAINS SECRET INSTRUCTIONS.

According to Reddit theory, Sesame Street The theme music isn't just catchy - it's code. The lyrics literally spell out how to get to Sesame Street, and the listeners are told how to get to this fantastic land. The day must be sunny (as the repeated line suggests), you must bring a broom ("sweep the clouds") and give Oscar the Grouch the password ("it's all right") to enter. Be sure to memorize all the steps before trying.

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2. SESAME STREET - MONSTERS REHABILITATION CENTER.

Sesame Street is filled with nightmares. There's a giant bird, a sneaky green guy hiding in the trash, and a real vampire. These things are supposed to be scary, and some fans claim they were like that before. But then the creatures moved on to Sesame Street, a rehab area for previously frightening monsters. In this community, monsters cannot go outside the perimeter ("neighborhood") while they are recovering. They must learn to educate children, not eat them - and find a more innocuous snack to satisfy their hunger. Hence Cookie Monster's obsession with baking.

3. BIG BIRD - DIED.

Big bird is a rare breed. He's eight feet tall, and while he can't really fly, he can roller skate. So what is this bird? The species of Big Bird has been the subject of controversy ever since Sesame Street began: Big Bird insists he is a lark, while Oscar thinks he looks more like a carrier pigeon. But there is strong evidence that Big Bird is an extinct moa. Moa - 10 species of flightless birds that lived in New Zealand. They had long necks and strong bodies, and they were up to 12 feet tall. Scientists say they died out hundreds of years ago, but is it possible to live on Sesame Street? It makes sense, especially considering his best friend looks a lot like a woolly mammoth.

4. OSCAR'S GARBAGE IS THE TARDIS.

Oskar's house doesn't seem very big. But Elmo's Adventures in Grouchland As it turns out, his trash can contains a lot more than a moldy banana peel. The Grouch has chandeliers and even a dimensional portal below! This incredibly roomy wastebasket has only one logical explanation: it's Doctor Who in the TARDIS style.

5. THIS IS ALL A RIFF ON PLATO.

Dust your copy Republic because it will soon become philosophical. Plato has a famous cave allegory that explains enlightenment through real sunlight. He describes a prisoner who emerges from a cave into the sun, realizing that his entire understanding of the world is wrong. When he returns to the cave to educate his fellow inmates, they do not believe him because the information is too extensive and contradicts what they know. The lesson is that education is a gradual learning process in which the students must walk through the cave themselves, putting the pieces together. And what could be better than a guide than a fun children's show?

According to one Reddit theory, Sesame Street is based on the teachings of Plato, representing a utopia in which all kinds of creatures live together in harmony. No racism or suffocating gender roles here, just another sunny (see what they were doing there?) day in the neighborhood. Sesame Street shows the public what an enlightened society looks like through simple songs and silly jokes, spoon-feeding knowledge to Plato's "cave dwellers" at an early age.



6. Mr. NOODLES IN HELL.

Can a grown man really enjoy following the orders of a red squeaky puppet? And why does Mr. Noodle even live outside the window at Elmo's house? According to this amusingly macabre theory, no, Mr. Noodle doesn't like to dance for Elmo, but he has to because he's in Hell. Think about it: he seems to be locked in a surreal place where he can't speak, but he has to do whatever a fuzzy monster named Elmo says. Definitely sounds like hell.

7. ELMO - THE SON OF THE ANIMAL.

Okay, so remember when Animal chases a screaming woman out of a college auditorium in The Muppets take over Manhattan ? (If not, see above.) One fan believes that Animal had an affair with this lady who produced Elmo. While the two may have a similar coloration, this theory completely ignores Louie, Elmo's father, who appears in many Sesame Street episodes. But perhaps Animal is a distant relative.

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8. COOKIE MONSTER TUNED POWER.

Cookie Monster loves to stuff chocolate treats into his mouth. But, as sharp-eyed onlookers have noticed, he doesn't actually eat cookies so much that they chew them into crumbs that scatter in all directions. This may indicate that Cookie Monster suffers from a chewing and spitting eating disorder, meaning he doesn't actually eat food - he just chews and spits it out. There's a more detailed (and obscure) diagnosis of Cookie Monster symptoms here.

9. ACCOUNT GOING CHILDREN.

Can a vampire really enjoy counting to five? One of the craziest Sesame Street Fan theories claim that the Earl is luring kids to death with his number games. That's why the kids at Sesame Street change so often - The Earl eats them all after teaching them how to fold. And the adult cast, meanwhile, stays much the same, meaning the adults are either under a vampire spell or looking the other way as the Count does his thing.

10. COUNTER IS ALSO DOWNLOAD.

Okay, that's just Dave Chappelle's joke. But count does have a cape.

"Sesame Street" - 50 years: what is the secret of the success of the most famous children's show?

"Sesame Street" - 50 years: what is the secret of the success of the most famous children's show? - BBC News Russian ServiceBBC News, Russian Service

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"Sesame Street" - 50 years: what is the secret of the success of the most famous children's show?

Sign up for our ”Context” newsletter: it will help you understand the events.

This year the children's TV show "Sesame Street" is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

During this time, it managed to get under the threat of closure due to "excessive tolerance", released franchises in other countries, where it acquired new heroes, and began to help the children of Syrian refugees.

BBC Correspondent met with Sesame Street residents Elmo and Abby, and spoke with one of the show's creators, Sherri Westin.

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