PBS KIDS releases two new apps for math and literacy

PBS KIDS is excited to release two new, educational apps for kids from their hit TV series DINOSAUR TRAIN and THE ELECTRIC COMPANY.   Meant to encourage math and literacy skills, the apps use familiar characters from the series and interactive, engaging games to practice skills such as counting, measurement, geometry, telling time and much more!

•  In The Electric Company Party Game: Lost on Prankster Planet, children use their math and literacy skills to help Marcus and Jessica escape from Prankster Planet and get back to Earth.  Based on the show, THE ELECTRIC COMPANY,  the free app for iPad and Kindle Tablet allows kids to complete wacky challenges, counting races, silly brainstorms, math questions and more.  They will add, draw, discuss, think, act, problem solve, and dance their way back to Earth, all while practicing skills in subjects including geometry, data analysis and graphing, telling time and more!

• In the Dinosaur Train Classic in the Jurassic, Jr. app, based on the series, DINOSAUR TRAIN, kids play through three math-based games focused on sorting, balance and counting to help Gilbert get Troodon Town ready for the big event – the Classic in the Jurassic, Jr. games! This app is available for the iPad for $1.99.

 

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THE ELECTRIC COMPANY’s Summer Learning Program supports kids’ literacy skills through summer months

The Electric Company’s Summer Learning Program is a six-week multimedia experience consisting of 24 sessions. Each session uses the show as a leaping-off point for developing children’s vocabulary and exploring core math concepts.  Research on this summer initiative by WestEd shows that participants demonstrated significant gains in vocabulary, numeracy, and literacy skills.

Key features of this Summer Learning Program include 36 hours of summer learning content, 3 hours of video content packaged into 15-minute episodes, online games, group activities, and skill-building activity sheets.  All of this is accompanied by a 90-minute staff orientation and PowerPoint that assists with the professional development of implementation staff.

Best of all: all of these materials are free for your usage.  All you need is the motivation to get started!  You can implement this summer program in your formal or informal summer learning program.  Check out some of the great resources included in this summer curriculum:

• Front & Back Covers – Summer Learning Program (PDF)
• Guide – Summer Learning Program (PDF)
• Training Guide – Summer Learning Program (PDF)
• Episode Clips – Summer Learning Program (YouTube)
• Training Presentation – Summer Learning Program (PowerPoint, 77MB)

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This Week’s PBS Kids Summer Reading Theme: “What’s the Story? Week”

This weeks PBS Kids Summer Reading Theme is “What’s the Story?” Week. 

Like many of us here at WGBY, lots of you out there grew up with the old-school Electric Company.  Well, in 2009, a new version of The Electric Company premiered as a multi-media literacy powerhouse charged with reducing the literacy gap between low and middle income families and advancing the idea that ‘reading is cool.’   Here are the episodes scheduled to air this week:

• “Wicked Itch” – Tuesday, July 5, 2011
• “Unmuffins” – Wednesday, July 6, 2011
• “One Smart Cookie” – Thursday, July 7, 2011
• “One Bad Apple” – Friday, July 8, 2011

The Electric Company airs at 5:30pm on WGBY.  For more fun activities and games to promote summer literacy, visit The Electric Company website.

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THE ELECTRIC COMPANY’s Prankster Planet is a Transmedia Learning Experience for Literacy

To keep kids learning this summer, The Electric Company has created Prankster Planet, an animated video and online “transmedia” experience featuring Electric Company members Jessica and Marcus as comic book heroes in a 12-part animated adventure.  Their mission is to get to Prankster Planet ASAP and stop the pranksters from stealing all the words from Earth. The TV segments will end with the characters directing viewers online, where the story continues in 12 multilevel online quests, 60 minigames, an avatar creator, a rewards system to encourage repeat play and a magazine. And coming in early summer, there also will be a progress tracker online for parents and teachers to follow kids’ learning online.

Here’s just one of the missions:

You can help kids fight the summer reading slide by practicing literacy skills at home.  To try your hand at the game, visit The Electric Company Prankster Planet.

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