Sesame Street
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Sesame Street
Sesame Street has been on television for forty three years entertaining and enriching the lives of toddlers. Many forms of communication occur during Sesame Street in order to keep the attention of children. The communication is simplified based on the primary audience of the show which is preschoolers of which do not have a very long attention span. The lighting is bright and the characters are in bright colors. Young children cannot help but be drawn to the lovable characters, catchy tunes and the bright colors presented in combination on the television. The Gestalt theory is based on the idea that the brain sees things based on sensations that images give to the eyes. It is a way that the brain organizes and processes what is seen in all things (Lester, 2011, p.45). Sesame Street as a whole allows children with many different backgrounds the opportunity to learn because the concepts are taught in multiple ways in order to enforce the message.
The characters of Sesame Street are well known and diverse which allows children of all backgrounds to identify with at least one character on the show. These Muppets are famous throughout the United States for their dedication to education of young people teaching the alphabet, numbers and manners. These images are shown repeatedly but in multiple circumstances showing the differences and allowing the children to distinguish what is being taught. For example, showing the number one on a shirt, and then showing the number one in sequence of counting. Showing similar shapes and familiar objects help preschoolers to learn the objectives that Sesame Street is teaching.
This show has been adapted in other countries as well due to its friendly teaching ability and universal teaching style. Watching todays version of Sesame Street is very different than it was when the show began. There are new characters and it seems like the show has evolved with the cultures and trends that will continue to capture the attention of toddlers. Staying relevant has been the key to the success for Sesame Street. Ensuring that the show is updated and fresh every year keeps children coming back for the entertainment but also learning.
Growing up with Sesame Street has a huge impact on many childrens childhood. It has now become familiar to parents and grandparents that have children watching it now. The positive experience that the adults remember from their childhood has them turning the show on for their children. The characters on Sesame Street are lovable and teach many valuable things like telling the truth, sharing, letters numbers, and simple things like brushing your teeth. Not every character on Sesame Street is pleasant such as Oscar the Grouch teaching children to accept people for who they are and to feel as though they can express when they feel like Oscar themselves. These lessons come from friendly characters that sing and relate to them on their level. There were always famous people like Bill Cosby or musicians going onto the show to perform and interact with the Muppets. They would often sing or have a story line that would be followed through the show.
Sesame Street first aired on November 10, 1969 (Wikipedia). Produced by The Childrens Television Workshop and Created by Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett, the popular preschool television series works in collaboration with Jim Hensens Muppets to teach children numbers and letters as well as life lessons (Wikipedia). The original Muppets included “Big Bird, Kermit, Bert and Ernie, Oscar, Grover, and Cookie Monster” (Murphy, 2009). Throughout the series, other Muppets were added to keep the show relevant and current including Snuffleupagus, The Count, Elmo, Zoe and most recently Abby Cadabby. The new characters represented the changes in society and fulfilled the needs of the show to stay relevant. If they had not made the changes, Sesame Street would have gone away a long time ago.
Sesame Street was the first television show to have a curriculum for students to learn. They were being taught their letters and numbers. They were being taught how to count. Most other television