Sesame Street celebrates 40 years





When I was 16, Sesame Street’s first episode aired in early November 1969. My little sister was five going on six then. She would dance, and imitate the characters. I loved the numbers and the various actors introducing the numbers for the episodes.

A couple of decades or more later when my son was toddling, he would watch Big Bird and the Cookie Monster. He did have his own stuffed “Big Bird” and “Cookie Monster” that he carried with him from his bedroom to the living room or for a ride in the country. Perhaps he even developed his love of reading from those alphabet and number lessons that he sang along with.

His first words after, Mama and Dada, was a question: Where’s that ball? His father would toss a baby-sized football to him in his high chair or the sofa; and his dad would always ask him: “Where’s that ball?” Between the repetition and the scientific world’s discovery of mirror neurons, I can see how his mind soaked up and imitated the alphabet, songs and the question about his football. At one point, I even read that toddlers who voice questions before they learn to speak show a remarkable level of intelligence. I was so proud of my Sesame watching, football playing toddler.

Sesame Street celebrates its 40th anniversary next week and CNN along with movie stars are blogging to congratulate the icon of early childhood education. A CNN reporter wrote that Sesame Street has become more child friendly with the notion of smoking removed from Cookie Monster and his behaviors have improved without his eating anymore pipes. Over the 40 years we have seen more diversity on the program which meets more of its original purpose — to enhance the education of inner city children. Diversity, it ends up, strengthens a people and their children regardless of their geographical homes in inner cities or rural farms.

I learned a lot from Sesame Street. I validated my loud, get attention from the group teaching methods. I follow the short lesson ideas that began with Sesame Street. When I am teaching, I try not to lecture 40 minutes and entertain 20 questions the last 10 minutes of class. Instead, I work like a tv set in the classroom - short idea, interactive responses or assignments, miniature lecture, new idea.

A graduate colleague from two decades ago said to me, “Whatever it takes to get the student’s attention, I will do — even if it means doing cartwheels in the classroom!”

That notion has stayed with me. This week I’m using music videos to explore the comparison and contrast writing strategy with students. Except for the technical throw back at the start of the class, the introduction to this “most outrageous class yet,” has kept their attention on the assignment.

Sesame Street characters often reflected and so also analyzed issues. They talked about what were “right” and “wrong,” what “helped” and what “hurt.” As a teacher with Big Bird on her mind, I find that college students benefit from comparing and contrasting messages they hear in music videos (or Hollywood movies or Budweiser commercials). For instance, is country music like Faith Hill’s “She’s a Wild One” influenced by Madonna’s early music like “Material Girl”?

Students can compare the advantages and disadvantages of subwoofers and contrast a cause like universal health care aimed at humanity’s needs to the unhealthy influences that support alcoholic binges and drunk driving that maims pedestrians and even kills. Students can examine the needs of a city bent on frivolous expansion (swimming pool, doubling recreation center footage at tax payer expense-or millions in dollars) versus budgetary hardships faced by constituents and company layoffs.

All of this mental arithmetic and city scene investigations are a direct and indirect benefit of growing up with Sesame Street, Big Bird, The Grouch and The Cookie Monster. 1, 2, 3-3-3-3-3-3: This column brought to you by the number 3 and the short message that two plus two may equal four; but a tax-payer base in recession does not equal frivolous city expansion.