Integrating Chinese culture into Sesame Street

Integrating Chinese Culture into Sesame Street

A Thesis

Submitted to the Faculty

of

Drexel University

by

Shengrui Wang

in partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the degree

of

Master of Science

June 2011

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© Copyright 2011

Shengrui Wang. All Rights Reserved.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I want to thank my advisor, Albert Tedesco, who has helped me all along from the very

beginning of the project. Step by step, the project goal has become clearer.

Many thanks to Richard, for all the effort and time you’ve spent helping with

proofreading. It’s you that made me think logically. I benefited a lot from discussing

with you.

Thank you, Kaiqin for making my Beibei the panda come alive. He’s so cute!

Last but not least, thank you Mom and Dad for giving me the opportunity to study

abroad. Without you, I wouldn’t have had all of these good experiences. I love you.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES………………………………………………………………......v

LIST OF FIGURES…………………………………………………………………vi

ABSTRACT……………………………………………………….………………. vii

1.OVERVIEW ………………………………………………………………1-12

2.PROBLEM STATEMENT………………………………………………13-16

3.CONTENT ANALYSIS OF CHINESE CULTURE IN SESAME STREET…17-18

4.PROJECT DESCRIPTION………………………………….………………....19-28

5.CHARACTER DESIGN……………………………………….……………....29-33

6.SCRIPTS…………………………………………….……..............…………..34-53

7.CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………...54-55

BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………..............56-58

APPENDIX A……………………………………….……………………….....59-62

APPENDIX B…………………………………………….……………………...63-64

APPENDIX C……………………………………………..…………………….. 65-93

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List of Tables

1. 2010 FLAP Funded Foreign Language Programs in the U.S……………………….10

2. Summary of Chinese Content in Forty Years of Sesame Street…………………….18

3. Sesame Street Chinese curriculum………………………………………………….20

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List of Figures

1. Growth in Chinese Language Courses……………………………………………….8

2. Erhu………………………………………………………………………………….14

3. Waterlight…………………………………………………………………………...23

4. Beibei the Panda…………………………………………………………………….27

5. Grover……………………………………………………………………………….31

6. Oscar the Grouch……………………………………………………………………34

7. Slimey……………………………………………………………………………….35

8. The Great Wall (1)…………………………………..………………………………41

9. The Great Wall (2)…………………………………………………………………..42

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10. ABSTRACT Integrating Chinese Culture into Sesame Street

Shengrui Wang Albert Tedesco. Supervisor, Ph.D.

This thesis demonstrates a way to integrate Chinese culture into the American television

program, Sesame Street. With increased exposure to the program elements and strategies

suggested herein, American children will draw creative ideas from Chinese culture. A

Sesame Street Chinese curriculum has been designed which uses selected cultural

aspects of Chinese culture as content to address the instructional goals of Sesame Street.

A new puppet called Beibei the Panda will act as a medium to teach American children

about Chinese culture in an entertaining and interesting manner.

From February to July 2010, I interned at the Global Production department of the

Sesame Workshop, the non-profit organization that produces Sesame Street. The

internship provided me with precious opportunities to test my thesis ideas with the

Sesame professionals.

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CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW

Sesame Street, that long street that circles the world, celebrated its 40th

anniversary in 2009 with its audience of 8 million viewers, on 350 stations in 120

countries (Davis, 2008).

Sesame Street was created in the late 1960s when, as Amber Smallwood (2008)

put it, “early education seemed to offer the possibility of solving great social

problems.”(p.1) The television program was, in part, a reaction to the chaos in the

United States during the Vietnam War, assassinations and general public unrest.

Additionally it was a response to what Newton Minow (1961), who was a former

Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, called the “vast wasteland” of

programming offered by television stations at the time (p.4).

In 1964, the federal government “The War on Poverty” was initiated. It was

designed to enhance the standard living of the poor. The program was focused on, in

part, improving the quality of schools and preparing children for entry into the US

educational system. Joan Ganz Cooney, “a little-known public television producer,” as

Davis (2008) put it, whose original vision would later become Sesame Street, seized the

opportunity to use television as an educational tool to prepare children for school life

(p.109).

She discussed her idea with “educators, school practitioners, pediatricians,

television and film producers” in search of the skills to make it happen. Eventually, with

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the help of the Carnegie Corporation, the Ford Foundation, and the U.S. Office of

Education, Cooney began planning out Sesame Street in 1968 (Fisch & Truglio 2001).

This educational television program that debuted on public broadcasting

television stations, began with the mission of helping children, especially

underprivileged children, prepare for school (Palmer & Fisch 2001). The program has

since been widely praised for its ability to promote school-readiness for children and for

stressing the importance of providing children with intellectual stimulation and culture

appreciation (Zill 2001). According to Sesame Workshop, about 8 million people in the

U.S. watch Sesame Street every week and Sesame Street is the children's program most

recognized by mothers of young children (Appendix B).

Shortly after its first airing in 1969 in the United States, the show attracted the

attention of producers from Brazil, Mexico and Canada who, expressed their interests in

using the format of Sesame Street for addressing the local educational needs of each

country (Cole, Richman, Brown; Children Television Workshop, 2001). Sesame Street

co-productions which use Sesame Street content for localized programming are all over

the world including: Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Israel,

Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Kosovo,

Netherlands, Northern Ireland and Palestine. The children of each country view a

program that “has the same essence as the series produced in the United States, in a

context that reflects local values and educational priorities” (Cole, Richman, Brown,

2001).

Take Sesame China, or ‘Zhima Jie’ as an example. Sesame Street first appeared

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in China in 1983 with Big Bird in China, a one-hour special produced with CCTV

(Sesameworkshop.org). In 1998, Sesame Workshop launched a coproduction of Sesame

Street, called Zhima Jie, in China. (Natural Resource Management.com) Its production

team consulted with local experts in child development, education, and media. The most

important educational needs were identified. These include basic skills, such as literacy,

numeracy, and an appreciation for arts and they were focused on in the Chinese version

of Sesame Street (Sesame Workshop.org).

The educational curriculum for the first season of the U.S. Sesame Street set

goals in the areas of social, moral, and affective development; as well as language,

mathematics skills, reasoning, problem solving and perception skills (Fisch 2004).

However, in order to avoid a situation in which none of the areas is addressed in depth, a

curriculum focus has always been set for each season of production. One set of related

objectives is specifically emphasized each season to expand on a certain area of child

development.

In some seasons, new concepts are focused on instead. For example, as during

seasons 22-25 (1990-1994), race relations were the focus. In other seasons, existing

areas were reexamined: emergent literacy was the center of attention in seasons 26-28

(1994-1997) (Lesser, Schneider 2001).

Seasons 22-25 from 1990-1994 provided a concentrated effort to teach about

cultural diversity using a four-year curriculum that focused on race relations. Positive

interactions were modeled among five groups, African Americans, American Indians,

Latinos, Asian Americans, and White Americans (Sesame Street Internal Research

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Archive, 2010).

In order to get some insight on how important cultural diversity is to the show, an

interview was conducted with Carol-Lynn Parente, the current Executive Producer of

Sesame Street. She said, “Culture diversity is very important to us. It has always been so,

from the very beginning.” She explained that it has always been one of Sesame Street’s

goals to weave culture diversity into the show. The diverse cultural backgrounds of the

human cast are good asset for this purpose. Parente further stated that it is useful “to

reflect the cultures in [the performers’] lives--to integrate something naturally part of the

people into their acting roles,” (Carol-Lynn Parente, Personal Communication, May 6,

2010).

Rosemarie Truglio, Vice President of Education and Research at Sesame

Workshop, elaborated further on Sesame Street’s role in cultural exposure:

“We try to show different cultures living together. The human cast on the Sesame

Street set provides an opportunity for us to explore their culture backgrounds. We have

an African American family, with Susan and Gordan; a Latino intact family, Maria and

Luis. And Mr. Hooper store was run by an older Jewish man; now it’s being operated

by a young Japanese American, Alan. The message has always been the same. We

want to celebrate the uniqueness of a person’s culture as well as highlight the

similarities,” (Rosemarie Truglio, Personal Communication, May 4, 2010).

A format called ‘Global Grover’ was begun in Season 34 (2003), to teach about

foreign cultures. As described by Truglio, the program, “provided the domestic show

[the opportunity] to take these films from international co-productions and bring them

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here domestically.” She said that this allowed children in America to observe other

children who might not look similar to them, but were experiencing the similar things in

life.

Both Parente and Truglio believe that the cultural aspects which are visually

most appealing are often chosen to be included in the show. (Rosemarie Truglio,

Personal Communication, May 4, 2010; Carol-Lynn Parente, Personal Communication,

May 6, 2010) Specifically, Truglio stated that, “we always include dance, music, and

cultural holidays” because they were a kind of “visual representation” of the culture.

(Rosemarie Truglio, Personal Communication, May 4, 2010)

However, Parente warned that, “you want to show what’s special and unique

about the culture. And yet, some of the most interesting visuals can be touristy--where

you are kind of feeding into stereotypes,”(Carol-Lynn Parente, Personal Communication,

May 6, 2010; Rosemarie Truglio, Personal Communication, May 4, 2010). For instance,

the live action segment of some young Chinese acrobats doing amazing moves appeared

many times in different seasons of the show. (Table 2)

The Sesame Street curriculum proposed in this project will introduce Chinese

culture using non-clichéd elements. Additionally, it will attempt to go beyond

superficial archetypes so as to avoid, or at least bring nuance and depth to stereotypes.

The following content analysis of Sesame Street’s 40 years of programming,

focusing on foreign culture, included in the thesis project revealed that the programming

dedicated to Chinese culture on Sesame Street has been, till now, limited to the topics of

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acrobatics, noodles, kites, and Chinese Spring Festival. The analysis was made through

reviewing 40 years of episode summaries provided by Muppet Wiki (muppet.wikia.com,

2009), which is “a collaborative project to create an encyclopedia for everything related

to Jim Henson and the Muppets”. (Squidoo.com,20) At the same time, a synthesis was

made to include only the episodes that include foreign culture-Appendix C.

The goal of multiculturalism on Sesame Street as well as the format of the show,

the magazine format, makes it difficult to focus on only one culture (Margot Duffy,

Producer Sesame Languages, Personal Communication, May 3, 2010). “At the same

time, it’s not easy to cover all cultures in depth. You only get a taste of everything.”

One other method Sesame Street uses to expand on cultural content, is through

outreach projects. For example, Shalom Sesame released in 1986, is the Israeli

adaptation of Sesame Street, aimed at teaching about Israel and Judaism to children in

America. Danny Labin, the Executive Director for Shalom Sesame said, “The project is

a platform for children, parents, and educators to explore their Jewish identity, culture

and traditions.” (Sesameworkshop.org) The show was a success among the Jewish

community, religious schools, and culture centers. However, according to Duffy (Margot

Duffy, Personal Communication, May 3, 2010), China has a broader influence in the U.S.

and there is much more pressure for children to learn Chinese. An article from the New

York Times recently reported about the Chinese language surge in Indonesia: “As

China’s economic power grows, the study of Mandarin is surging around the world,”

(Wong, 2010).

In the United States, “Thousands of public schools stopped teaching foreign

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languages in the last decade, according to a government survey,” (Dillon, 2010). While

other foreign language classes are shrinking, Chinese seems to be the exception, as noted

in the New York Times. “Rough calculations based on the government’s survey suggest

that perhaps 1,600 American public and private schools are teaching Chinese, up from

300 or so a decade ago. And the numbers are growing exponentially,” (Dillon, 2010).

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Figure 1: Growth in Chinese Language Courses (2010)

(Photo Courtesy to The New York Times, January 21, 2010)

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According to an article from Asia Society, there has been a significant growth of

Chinese teaching programs in the United States since 2005. (Asia Society.org)

Government funding contributes greatly to such growth. Foreign Language

Assistance Program (FLAP), a program under the U.S. Department of Education,

provides grants to establish, improve, or expand innovative foreign language programs

for elementary and secondary school students.

The program makes a priority of funding to critical need languages identified as:

Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Russian, and languages in the Indic, Iranian, and

Turkic language families. (Foreign Language Assistance Program: Applicant

Information).

According to the funding status reported by the U.S. Department of Education, in

fiscal year 2010, $15,718,185 was appropriated to FLAP. Through an analysis of the

2010 FLAP Grant Abstract, 15 Chinese programs got the funding, 12 Spanish, 6 Arabic,

2 French, 1 Latin, 1 Turkey, 1 Hindi.

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Table 1 2010 FLAP Funded Foreign Language Programs in the U.S.

Chinese California; Colorado; Kansas; Indiana;

Iowa; Michigan; New Jersey; New York;

Pennsylvania; Massachusetts

Spanish California; Colorado; Florida; Georgia;

North Carolina; Tennesse; Texas; Ohio

Arabic Arizona; Michigan; Tennesse;

Pennsylvania

French North Carolina; Ohio

Latin Tennesse

Turkey Ohio

Hindi Texas

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National Security Education Program (NSEP) is another major Federal initiative

designed to build a broader and more qualified pool of U.S. citizens with foreign

language and international skills. Two important projects of NSEP are Startalk and The

Language Flagship.

Startalk seeks to expand and improve the teaching and learning of strategically

important world languages that are not now widely taught in the U.S. such as Arabic and

Chinese. It provides assistance to curriculum planning and development of materials.

(Teaching Heritage Languages) A popular Startalk-sponsored program is the Chinese

Monster Magic which features puppets to make Chinese fun and enjoyable. It is a brand

new teaching curriculum for Pre-School and Grades K-2. (Chinese Monster Magic.com)

“The Language Flagship community is made up of 23 Flagship centers and

programs at institutions of higher education. Programs are led by nationally-recognized

leaders and innovators in language education.” (The Language Flagship.org)

10 universities across the country have Chinese teaching programs for undergraduates.

For example, the ASU Chinese Language Flagship Program in the Arizona State

University.

Aside from governmental initiatives, non-governmental organizations, such as Asia

Society have played “important roles in the expanding of the Chinese field.” The

organization along with Hanban, the Chinese government agency spearheading the

establishment of Chinese language programs overseas, will set up a network of 100

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exemplary Chinese languages programs as model sites for effective teaching and

learning of Chinese in the United States within 3 years. 20 pioneer schools and districts

are in place. (Asia Society, 2010)

Sesame Street Chinese (or the Ohio Mandarin Project) is a pilot program that began

by Sesame Workshop in 2008 to introduce Mandarin and Chinese culture to young

children in Ohio. The project attempts to expose the audiences to the contrast between

Chinese and American cultures. The success of the program is closely related to the

unique assets of Sesame Workshop: Sesame Street Characters, culturally specific

materials in their native languages, broad curricular goals from socio-emotional to

cognitive learning and global networks with local experts, children and caregivers.

(Internal Reference)

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CHAPTER 2: PROBLEM STATEMENT

The core idea of this project is to make Chinese cultural elements more familiar

to children in America. With increased multicultural exposure, children will draw ideas

from divergent sources.

Consider the following common examples from the daily lives of children in the

States:

One afternoon, four little girls gather and listen attentively to an old Chinese man

playing the Erhu on a subway platform. They are enchanted by the beautiful sounds

emanating from the strange and exotic device.

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Figure 2: Erhu, a traditional Chinese instrument

(Photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

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On another sunny day, after a long walk along the Hudson River, a young boy

and his parents find themselves in Chinatown. They sit in a Chinese restaurant and are

advised by the Chinese waiters on special dishes. They look through the menus full of

foreign names and afterwards compare the messages they get from their fortune cookies.

In these examples one can see how children in America hear the words ‘China’

and ‘Chinese’ constantly in their daily lives. And also, according to the data from US

Census Bureau, in 2004 Chinese was the second biggest language, after Spanish, spoken

by school children 5 to 17 years old, out of the 229 languages spoken within the U.S.

(Census.gov, 2010).

This project focused on specific ways in which Sesame Street producers can

include Chinese culture in Sesame Street programming in the United States. The easiest

elements to include are things that children see, hear, taste, smell and touch in daily life--

things such as fortune cookies, the Chinese zodiac, Chinese food, chopsticks, Chinese

instruments, etc.--and to weave them into the educational curriculum of Sesame Street.

The project aimed to design a way of making Chinese culture elements better

understood by American children. It was thought that increased multicultural exposure

would equip American children with new sources from which to draw creative ideas

about Chinese culture. In this way each child can say, “I know this is from China,

Mexico, or Finland, but this is as much a part of my life as apple pie. It’s mine too.”

Young viewers’ lives will be enriched as they have more options and ideas to

play with. The foregoing assumption is well supported by recent research which asserts

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that “multicultural experiences can provide a valuable cognitive resource for creative

thinking” (Leung and Chiu, p.14, 2010).

The research by Leung and Chiu studied the effects of American and Chinese

culture exposure on European Americans. The findings show “significant immediate and

delayed creative benefits” (p.14) as a direct result of such introduction to unfamiliar

cultures. These conclusions suggested that multicultural experiences had “engaged [the

participants] in some creativity-supporting cognitive skills, such as a spontaneous

tendency to sample ideas from divergent sources and to attempt creative integration of

seemingly unconnected ideas” (Leung and Chiu, p.14, 2010)

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CHAPTER 3: CONTENT ANALYSIS OF CHINESE CULTURAL ELEMENTS

IN SESAME STREET

This evaluation analyzes the content of Sesame Street, focusing on foreign-

culture related programming. It is aimed at finding out how much exposure Chinese

culture had and how it was presented to the American audience in previous episodes.

Appendix C, made through collecting data from the Muppet Wiki, is a summary

of culture-related programming for the last 40 seasons of Sesame Street. And the table

below is a summary of episodes with Chinese culture content only. From the table, it can

be seen that Chinese culture did not have a significant presence on Sesame Street and

what little content is shown seems to be restricted to a small number of topics. Only

eight of the fourty seasons contained programming with information about China.

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Table 2 Summary of Chinese Content in Forty Years of Sesame Street (Muppit Wiki.com)

Season 5 Muppets Kermit News (Chinese food mentioned)

Season 8 Film Chinese noodles Season 22 Film Kite Season 25 Film Chinese

calligraphy Season 25 Animation Chinese patterns Season 27 Film Chinese New

Year Season 31 Film Acrobatics Season 32 Animation Letter to China Season 36 Miscellaneous

segments Chinese food

Episodes

Season 36 Muppets Global Grover

returns from

China.

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CHAPTER 4: PROJECT DESCRIPTION

In this section, examples are given to demonstrate the feasibility of the project.

Chinese culture will be used along with American culture for Sesame Street

programming to create multi-cultural experiences with the goal of provoking creativity

and openness towards foreign-culture concepts. The Chinese-focused curriculum in this

thesis project references the “Sesame Street Instructional Goals” as stated in the Sesame

Street Research Archive. (Internal Reference)

The proposed curriculum will use selected cultural aspects of Chinese culture as

content to address the instructional goals of Sesame Street as shown in Table 3:

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Table 3

Sesame Street Chinese Curriculum

Sesame Street Instructional Goals

Chinese Cultural

Aspects

Child and World:

Self

Social Units

Human Diversity:

Differing Perspectives

Cultural Diversity

Special Needs

Symbolic Representation:

Pre-Reading & Writing

Numbers

Geometric Forms

Home life

Cultural Celebration

Language

Food

Music

Dance

Art and Crafts

Architecture

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Cognitive Organization:

Perceptual Discrimination And

Orientation

Relational Concepts

Classifying

Example 1: Symbolic Representation-Food

The popular Chinese food, tofu could be used to demonstrate shapes. Tofu is

originally from China, however, it has come to be popular throughout the United States.

The process of making tofu goes from a circle (the original product—yellow beans) to a

square (the final product—tofu cubes) in a typical dish. Moreover, the texture of tofu

tends to be very soft. Therefore, it can also be used to demonstrate hard and soft by

contrast to, say, a rock. It has now been related to different shapes and textures, while

the origins of this once strange type of food have been demonstrated.

Example 2: Relational Concepts-Art

As another example, traditional Chinese landscape painting could give children a

good sense of positions. The paintings are typically composed of elements such as

forests, streams and mountains (ChineseArt.com, 2010). Through the process of painting

itself it is easy to show young viewers spatial concepts, e.g., near/far, in front/behind,

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top/bottom, low/high, around, etc.

Example 3: Child and World-Art & Crafts

Folk arts, such as Chinese paper-cutting, could be used as an interesting

demonstration of the Chinese zodiac animals1, from the Rat to the Pig. A Sesame Street

Character could introduce the Chinese zodiac by telling his/her friends what year he/she

was born and what animal represents that year. Paper-cutting animation with a voice-

over narration from the character could follow as a visually enticing, and educational

explanation. It would show all the animals along with the interesting and identifiable

characteristics of each.

Additionally, the twelve animals which represent the Zodiac, could be related in

their respective order to numbers by use of the traditional story of their institution

(perhaps performed by a number of Muppets). After this, the Zodiac on the Chinese

restaurant menu wouldn’t be so strange anymore. Children could feel connected to it

since a Muppet they know on Sesame Street was born in the year of Ox.

Example 4: Symbolic Representation-Home Life

In some water towns in China, people fold little colorful paper boats in which

candles are laid. Different colors have distinct connotations, for example, red for health,

purple for fortune, etc. (Travelogue-XiTang, 2007) People put them into the river at

night to make wishes and watch them float past the various homes on shore. These

1 Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig

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colorful water-lights that drift along, carrying wishes down the river, can be used to

teach colors and numbers.

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Figure 3: Water light

(Photo courtesy of Xitang.com)

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Example 5: Visual Discrimination –Language

Some Chinese characters look like what they refer to. That is, they derive from

pictures. Consider the following:

口-Mouth

山-Mountain

飞-Fly (Flying humming bird)

哭-Cry(Crying person with a tear)

火-Fire

中-middle, center

伞-umbrella

These are examples of Chinese pictograms, a part of Chinese written language.

Pictograms convey meaning through their pictorial resemblance to a physical object.

(Pictogram, Wikipedia, 2010) This manner of communication allows for a different,

interesting perspective by using pictures to describe thoughts and concepts. It shortens

the distance between Chinese language and the audience by introducing pictures as a

medium which children can easily understand. Either animation or live action film could

be used to present these characters.

The main intent of all these examples is to embed foreign culture concepts into

the educational content of Sesame Street.

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My Internship at Sesame Workshop:

Sesame Street has always been a concentration of the efforts of content

experts, television producers, and educational researchers who have collaborated

throughout the life of the project.

As an intern at the Sesame Workshop’s Global Production department, I

was able to participate in the production process from pre-production to post-

production, which allowed me to directly observe and gain practical production

skills. For instance, I helped brainstorm for titles, worked on script development

and proof all updates.

The scripts included in this thesis project were developed by me based on

these observations at Sesame Street. The experience of doing live studio production

has familiarized me with the Sesame Street set. I’ve personally been to Hooper

store, Oscar’s trash can, Big Bird’s nest, etc. Moreover, one week of training at the

Henson Workshop gave me some basic knowledge of how puppets are made,

prepared and maintained. All these observations and practices have greatly

advanced the development of this thesis.

Through a curriculum, scripts and a new puppet character, this project will

endeavor to address the close relationship between Chinese and American societies

with the goal of fostering friendly attitudes towards Chinese and other foreign

cultures. Stephanie Bell-Rosethe, president of The Goldman Sachs Foundation once

said: "If young Americans are to take on challenging global leadership roles, they

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must possess a deep understanding of and appreciation for other cultures,

economies, history and languages," (Earlyadvantage.com 2010). This thesis will

attempt to address exactly such a need, for the benefit and education of American

children.

In order to achieve this, a Muppet (or marionette puppet), which resembles a

panda will join the cast of Sesame Street. His name is Beibei.

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Introduction to a New Character:

My design and conception of Beibei as a character

Figure 4: Beibei the Panda

(Copyright by Kaiqin Zhang)

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CHAPTER 5: CHARACTER DESIGN Why a panda?

Pandas are a well-known feature of China, are cute and an animal loved by

children. Pandas are also strongly associated with China, which is the only country that

has them. (ChinaUnique.com, 2010)

Character background

Beibei the panda was born in China. Later, when he was still young, he came

to the National Zoological Park in Washington D.C., an institution to which children can

feel some attachment to. He has decided to move to Sesame Street in order to make new

friends with the cool characters that he has been hearing so many good things about, and

watching on television.

He has been considering the pros and cons of moving for a long time because

of his over cautiousness. On one hand, he wants to stay with his friends in the zoo,

living a laid-back life. On the other hand, he is tempted to get out of the zoo to meet

new friends and see more of the wide world. After some deliberation, he decided that

he'd rather give up his secure life for freedom and fun on the outside.

Characteristics

The most dominant trait of Beibei the Panda is that he tends to consider the

pros and cons of everything. Thus, he is always very calm when dealing with problems

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but takes a long time to reach any conclusion. However his carefully laid-out plans don’t

work all the time. Things get out of his control, and then he has to learn from mistakes.

“That his character hems and haws over decisions is a very visual way of

teaching critical thinking. That’s really a wonderful way to get that curriculum across,”

said Parente. According to Parente, “critical thinking is the toughest curriculum we

have.” She added that “if we have a character like this, it will get a little easier” (Carol-

Lynn Parente, Personal Communication, May 6, 2010).

This characteristic of Beibei has a lot of correlation with the Yin and Yang, a

dominant concept of Chinese philosophy which maintains that nothing is absolutely

good or bad, but a mixture of both. Because he always thinks about the pros and cons of

everything, Beibei will be fit for teaching antonyms, for instance, safe and dangerous,

fail and succeed, boring and interesting.

Since he is from China, Beibei is bi-lingual, speaking both Chinese and

English. He is, however, in the process of learning more English vocabulary. He has an

intense curiosity about everything new. However, with his nature being over cautious,

he always finds conflict within himself. “To do or not to do” is always a question for

him.

Beibei’s friend, Grover

Grover and Beibei the panda can become very good buddies because their

characteristics can help each other. “Grover is a lovable, furry, wide-eyed blue monster

who sees the world from a four-year-old’s point of view. Excitable and compulsive, he

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is always willing to help, but he rushes into things without thinking of the consequences.

He has limited experience and few analytical skills, so he usually ends up doing things

the long way around.” (Sesame Workshop Muppet Guide)

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Figure 5: Grover

(Photo courtesy of Sesame Workshop)

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Grover is excitable and compulsive, while Beibei is calm and over cautious.

When the two get together, they’ll make a good team in terms of going on adventures

with good and logical planning.

Moreover, with the Global Grover series, in which “the blue monster travels all

over the world to explore the traditions of peoples from many diverse cultures.” (Muppet

Wikia.com) He has been to China as well. Therefore, the two of them have a lot in

common and similar experiences to share. The two of them can teach kids about Chinese

culture together. Grover is able to give passionate speeches about what he has seen in

China and Beibei can add in his logical perspective to expand the children’s knowledge

of China.

Beibei’s appearance

Beibei’s look was designed by Kaiqin Zhang2, a graduate student of

Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art (PAFA).

2 http://zhangkaiqin.com/

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CHAPTER 6: SCRIPTS

TITLE 1: “THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA”

EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

Instructional Goals Cultural Aspects

Cultural Diversity Language

Perceptual

Discrimination

Architecture

SCRIPT OBJECTIVE

After viewing, young audiences will be familiar with the Great Wall of China

and know some simple facts, such as that it is very old, very long, and it was used as

a defense system.

Young audiences will enjoy using the name, ‘the Great Wall’ in their play,

like the example given in the script, ‘the Great Wall of Oscar.’

Young audiences will acquire the notion that things as magnificent as the

Great Wall take a long time and a lot of effort to build.

Young audiences will become more considerate about how they treat friends

from foreign cultures.

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Figure 6: Oscar the Grouch

(Photo courtesy of Sesame Workshop)

OSCAR The resident grouch on Sesame Street. He loves collecting junk and

trash, standing in line, arguing, rainy days, anchovy milkshakes, etc. and hates

anything nice and sweet. Oscar lives in a trash can that houses several elephants, a

swimming pool, music room, and just about everything else. (Sesame Workshop

Muppet Guide)

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Figure 7: Slimey (Photo courtesy of Sesame Workshop)

Slimey Oscar’s friendly pet worm. Slimey is so small that everyday objects

become obstacles for him. The puppet has limited mobility; usually appears on the

crate next to Oscar. Slimey doesn’t speak. (Sesame Workshop Muppet Guide)

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LOGLINE:

Beibei the panda is homesick. He misses his own country, China, so much that he

decides to build the Great Wall out of building blocks by himself. Beibei happens to

build the Wall outside Oscar the Grouch’s trash can. It turns out Oscar likes Beibei

because the Wall forms a fence that can block everybody else on Sesame Street

from entering his territory.

SCENIC: OSCAR’S TRASH CAN TALENT: BEIBEI THE PANDA, OSCAR THE GROUCH, GROVER PROPS: BUILDING BLOCKS WE FIND BEIBEI WALKING INTO SESAME STREET FOR THE FIRST TIME TO SEE OSCAR THROWING BLOCKS OUT OF HIS TRASH CAN. HE’S SURPRISED TO SEE SOMETHING IN TRASH. OSCAR (GRUMBLING): These just aren't my style,--they're too well made! BEIBEI (TO HIMSELF): What is that?! Shall I go talk to him? Seems like a wild animal... Is it safe or dangerous? Should I go and talk to him? Or run away? Oh dear, what should I do? Well, I guess it doesn't hurt to try... BEIBEI STRETCHING OUT HIS ARM TO SHAKE OSCAR’S HAND BEIBEI: Ni Hao! ... Hello? (HELLO IN CHINESE) OSCAR(FROWNING): Whoa…Whoa…What are you doing? Don’t you know that grouches don’t like to be touched? BEIBEI: Oh, sorry. I don't know what a Grouch is... I’m from China.

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OSCAR: China! I’ve been to China when Big Bird visited there. It’s not an interesting country at all. BEIBEI: That’s not true! China is a wonderful country with lots of interesting things to see. I miss my beautiful home so much! OSCAR: Calm down…listen buddy, I like China a lot because it is not interesting! Now, if you excuse me, I’ll go back to my nap now. You can stick around if you are still homesick. Being sad is good. BEIBEI: Wait, I can show you what a nice country China is… OSCAR GETS BACK INTO THE TRASH CAN BEFORE BEIBEI GET TO FINISH TALKING BEIBEI: (TALKING TO HIMSELF) I’ll prove to Oscar that China is interesting. HE SEES THE PILE OF BLOCKS AROUND THE CORNER, SO HE DECIDES TO BUILD THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA BY HIMSELF. WHILE BEIBEI IS BUILDING THE WALL PIECE BY PIECE, GROVER COMES BY, AMAZED BY WHAT HIS GOOD BUDDY IS DOING GROVER: Hey BEIBEI! What are you doing with these building blocks? BEIBEI: Oh, hiya! I’m building the Great Wall of China. GROVER: What wall? BEIBEI: The Great Wall of China. It’s a very long wall built of earth and stone. It’s more than 2,000 years old. That’s much older than most of our great grandpas and grandmas. GROVER: Wow, that’s pretty old. What was it used for then? BEIBEI: It was built by Chinese people to protect them from harm. GROVER: I see. But why are you building the Great Wall in front of Oscar’s trash can? He will not be happy to see this grand thing. BEIBEI: Oscar thinks China is not an interesting country. I need to show him that it

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is, by making the Great Wall on my own. But I’m running out of blocks… GROVER: Don’t worry, buddy! Grover is always ready to help. I’ll go get you more blocks. So how many do you need? BEIBEI: The more the merrier. The Great Wall of China took miles and miles of stones to build. GROVER: Alright, I’ll go get some for you. (SWOOSH) OSCAR POPS OUT TO CHECK WHAT’S GOING ON OUTSIDE OF HIS TRASH CAN OSCAR: (ANNOYED) What is this again? BEIBEI: I’m making the Great Wall of China to show you how interesting China is. OSCAR: It doesn’t look like a wall to me. And it certainly is not great looking either. BEIBEI: I’m only at the beginning of my project. It took ancient Chinese people many years to build it. I’m making a small version of the Great Wall just to give you an idea of how great the Great Wall is. OSCAR: Oh, boy, I don’t understand why you’re trying this hard to ruin the boring memory of China that I have. OSCAR COVERS THE LID ONCE AGAIN AND GROVER COMES BACK DRAGGING A CART FULL OF BUILDING BLOCKS GROVER: Beibei, Beibei, there you go! I collected all the building blocks I could find on Sesame Street for you. I hope these will be enough for your Great Wall. BEIBEI: Thank you so much Grover!!! You are so helpful. Now, would you like to make the Great Wall with me? It’s such a big project. There were thousands of Chinese people building it. I need your help to make it happen. GROVER: (EXCITED) Of course! It looks so much fun! Grover loves to help! There is nothing more interesting than building the Great Wall! I’m so happy to be part of this honorable mission… But, eh…Beibei, I’ve never seen the Great Wall of China. I certainly don’t know what it looks like. How do I build it then?

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BEIBEI: Oh, let’s see what it looks like first; that will help us make it more real! GROVER: Smart thinking Beibei!! BEIBEI: My friend Panpan in China lives in Beijing, which is the capital of China. He often goes to climb the Great Wall with his grandfather for exercise. WIPE TO: WE SEE A LITTLE BOY WALKING ON THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA WITH HIS GRANDPA. THE BOY TAKES SMALL BUT FAST STEPS IN FRONT OF HIS GRANDPA, WHO FOLLOWS RIGHT BEHIND WITH A SMILE ON HIS FACE. OFTENTIMES THEY COME AT DIFFERENT TIMES OF THE DAY, SUNRISE, NOON AND SUNSET. THE GREAT WALL ALWAYS LOOKS DIFFERENT, SEEN FROM VARIOUS ANGLES, SPOTS, AND TIMES. THE BOY RUNS BACK TO FIND GRANDPA WHO IS HUNCHING HIS BACK LOOKING CAREFULLY AT THE STAIRS, CONTEMPLATING. THE BOY RUNS BACK TO GRANDPA AND ASKS WHAT HE IS THINKING ABOUT. GRANDPA TELLS HIM HOW THOUSANDS OF HANDS OF THE CHINESE PEOPLE USING BRICKS, STONES, EARTH ETC. THE BOY AND GRANDPA COME TO THREE IMPORTANT AND BASIC COMPONENTS OF THE GREAT WALL, WHICH ARE PASSES, TOWERS, AND WALLS. GRANDPA TEACHES THE BOY THE DIFFERENT FUNCTIONS OF EACH. WIPE TO:

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GROVER: Wow, the Great Wall is so magnificent. I’ve never seen such a long wall built among mountains. I can’t see the ends of it.

BEIBEI: Yeah! It all comes from the hard work and determination of the ancient Chinese people. So grandpa told us there are three important components of the Great Wall. Do you remember what are they?

GROVER: Let me see… Pass, wall, and…I can’t remember the third one.

BEIBEI: Towers! They used beacons on top of them to attract attention and send messages.

GROVER: Good! Now let’s start our project!!

BEIBEI: Alright! But we need to work together like a team. GROVER: Sounds like a plan! BEIBEI: Let’s start from the beacon tower. How about that? GROVER: Yeah! Yeah! But… how? BEIBEI: Haha… If you look closely, you’ll see the most important feature of the beacon tower is that it’s located somewhere high, like on the tops of mountains. Because the soldiers needed to send messages out by fire or smoke, they had to stand on top of the roof so that people can see the signals clearly. GROVER: That makes perfect sense! BEIBEI: You see, to make a beacon tower, we need two parts, the foundation and the roof. GROVER: Oh, the tower seems like a box with an E-shaped roof. BEIBIE: Really?

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Figure 8: The Great Wall

(Photo courtesy of Richard Kroon, my friend, who has been to the Great Wall in China 2008)

GROVER: Look, the foundation is a big box at the bottom and the roof is made by the letter E lying down. BEIBEI: That’s right!! You are so smart Grover! GROVER: Hahaha, thank you! BEIBEI: Actually, you just used a very good method to understand things that are new and unknown to us. GROVER: Really? What’s that? BEIBEI: Using what you already know to make new things understandable! GROVER: I can do the same with the pass too! BEIBEI: Try it, try it!!

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Figure 9: The Great Wall

(Photo courtesy of TravelChinaGuide.com) GROVER: Hmm, the pass has a big gate and two layers of birthday cakes on top! BEIBEI: Ha Ha, that’s great! Our project’s easy now, thanks to smart Grover! GROVER: Oh, Yeah!!! WIPE TO: WE SEE IT’S SUNSET TIME. BEIBEI AND GROVER ARE STILL WORKING ON THE GREAT WALL PROJECT. GROVER PUTS DOWN THE LAST BUILDING BLOCK PIECE. THE THREE PARTS, BEACON TOWER, PASS AND WALL ARE MADE READY. NOW THEY NEED TO PUT THEM TOGETHER. THEY SET THE BEACON TOWER HIGHER THAN THE REST OF THE GREAT WALL. BEIBEI: Wow, we did a fantastic job!! High five! GROVER: (TIRED, BREATHING QUICKLY, WIPING SWEAT FROM FOREHEAD) Oh boy, it’s definitely a lot of work!! I respect myself as a hard-working Great Wall builder…You too, Beibei!

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OSCAR COMES OUT OF HIS TRASH CAN OSCAR: That’s it!! You guys have been around my trash can for the whole day! I can’t bear it anymore! BEIBEI: Look, Oscar! OSCAR: What is this long wall in front of my trash can for? GROVER: It’s the Little Great Wall of China we built! Isn’t that amazing? We spent a long time and all our effort to make this. (STILL TRYING TO CATCH HIS BREATH) OSCAR IS STILL CAREFULLY EXAMINING THE GREAT WALL BEIBEI: So, what do you think? Do you think the Great Wall is interesting? OSCAR(THINKING FOR A SECOND): Come here, Slimey! GROVER AND BEIBEI LOOK CONFUSED WONDERING WHY OSCAR CALLS SLIMEY OUT. OSCAR: Come on buddy, you’re honored as the solider for my Great Wall of Oscar. GROVER: What! The Great Wall of Oscar? Why is that? OSCAR: You see, this is such a good defense system for my trash can! From now on, no one will be able to invade my territory without my permission. And I assign Slimey as my loyal solider to stand here to alarm me of anything usual. SLIMEY MOVES SLOWLY TO THE BEACON TOWER GRACEFULLY OSCAR: (POINTING AT THE BEACON TOWER) What is this?

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BEIBEI: It’s the beacon tower. Ancient Chinese soldiers stand here to send messages out if there is anything strange happened. OSCAR: (TALKING TO SLIMEY) Good boy! You know just where to be! (TALKING TO BEIBEI) Thank you for building the Great Wall of Oscar! BEIBEI: So, you change your idea about China now? OSCAR: Oh, yeah! For sure! I like this wall so much! Now there will be less people, monsters, animals that can bother me. Now, if you can leave, I’ll be able to test if the Great Wall of Oscar works well as it looks. BEIBEI AND GROVER LOOK AT EACH OTHER, SHRUGGING SHOULDERS BEIBEI AND GROVER: Oh, boy… BEIBEI: At least, Oscar likes it…haha… Hey Grover, I don’t feel homesick and sad anymore. I feel so happy after building the Great Wall of China with you. GROVER: I’m glad to hear that, pal! And next time, when you are homesick, come find me, we can play together, ok? BEIBEI: I will! Thank you buddy! The End

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TITLE 2: “CHINESE LANDSCAPE PAINTING”

Educational Goals:

Instructional Goals Cultural Aspects

Relational Concepts Art

Critical Thinking Calligraphy

Script Objective

Children will get an idea about some of the common elements of traditional Chinese landscape painting. Through the project, children get to practice prepositional vocabulary, (such as

top, bottom, left, right, above, below etc) through designing a painting.

SCENIC: 123 SUBWAY ENTRANCE

TALENT: BEIBEI THE PANDA, BIG BIRD, A STREET ARTIST PROPS: PAPER SCROLL

LOGLINE: A STREET ARTIST SETS UP A BOOTH FOR NAME DECORATION IN CHINATOWN. BEIBEI THE PANDA AND BIG BIRD PASSES BY. BIG BIRD WANTS A CUSTOMIZED NAME SCROLL TO PUT UP ON HIS WALL. THE ARTIST IS SINGING MERRILY WHILE ORGANIZING SOME CLIP ART ON THE TABLE, EACH WITH A DIFFERENT ELEMENT OF CHINESE TRADITIONAL LANDSCAPE PAINTING, SUCH AS MOUNTAINS, WATERFALLS, RIVERS, CANOES, HOUSES, BRIDGES, BAMBOOS, BIRDSS, AND RED LANTERNS.

THE ARTIST: (Taking a deep breath) What a beautiful Day! Hope there

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will be some more business with such good weather!

BIG BIRD AND BEIBEI THE PANDA WALK ALONG THE STREET

BIG BIRD: Hang on Beibei! Look!

BEIBEI: (Taking a U-turn) What?

BIG BIRD: (Stopping by the art booth) Wow, this is cool!

BEIBEI: (Saying hi to the artist in Chinese) Ni hao!

THE ARTIST: (While working on a piece of art) Ni hao! How are you doing, guys?

BIG BIRD: Good, thank you sir! Beibei, I want one; I can put it up on my wall. BEIBEI: Very good idea!

BIG BIRD: May I have one name scroll please? THE ARTIST: Of course! You get to pick whatever you want on your name scroll, and you can arrange them according to you own taste! BIG BIRD: This sounds so interesting!

BEIBEI: Yeah!

THE ARTIST: All right then! Let’s get started…Here are the options: mountain, river, waterfall, bridge, house, bamboo, bird, canoe, red lantern. Pick anything you like, I can put them on the scroll to decorate your name. BIG BIRD: Wow, amazing!! But, er…Beibei, I need your help. I don’t know what to pick. There are so many of them. BEIBEI: Sure, I’d love to help! Let’s see…hmm, first, think about what you like. BIG BIRD: Well, I love mountains…

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BEIBEI: Good choice! Traditional Chinese landscape paintings have lots of mountains since they are so huge and great looking. BIG BIRD: Oh, good! I like rivers too; they always run happily, non-stop, full of life. BEIBEI: River and mountain are nice combination. They go together pretty well. What else do you want? BIG BIRD: I would like to have a house… BEIBEI: Interesting! BIG BIRD: I have a good idea! BEIBEI: What’s that? BIG BIRD: On the river, I want to have a bridge; and some red lanterns on the roof of my house! THE ARTIST: (Jumping up on his feet, excited) Wow, such good imagination! Keep going! BIG BIRD: Some waterfalls will be great to have, I just enjoy watching them falling from up high all the way down to the bottom, so powerful… BEIBEI: Big bird, they are good to have, but your name scroll will be quite full with all these. BIG BIRD: Will that be a problem? I really love them all. THE ARTIST: Not if we arrange them properly. BEIBEI: But how? THE ARTIST: Well, that’s usually my secret. But you boys are full of curiosity; I’ll show you how I do it. Keep it within the three of us, will you? BIG BIRD AND BEIBEI: Yay!

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THE ARTIST: Now that we have so many things we want to have on the name scroll, to make it not crowded, it’s helpful to think about where you want to put each one of them on the limited space. BEIBEI: Oh, I see, it’s like arranging the stuff I have in my room so that it isn’t too crowded. Oh, I know!! We can put the mountain on the left top of the scroll and the river at the bottom. THE ARTIST: Smart! That’s exactly what I meant!

BIG BIRD: Oh, how about the house by the river and the bridge running across the river?

THE ARTIST: Very good! It will be a wonderful name scroll! BIG BIRD: Now, we have everything settled, don’t we? THE ARTIST: Not yet… You forget the most important thing! BEIBEI: Haha, I know, Big Bird’s name! BIG BIRD: Right! Haha, where do I put my name then?

BEIBEI: How about on top of the river, below the mountain? BIG BIRD: Oh, I love the idea! THE ARTIST: Alright then! We have a plan now! THE ARTIST STARTS ASSEMBLING ALL THE ELEMENTS BIG BIRD WANTS IN HIS NAME SCROLL THE ARTIST: Oh, can you boys do me a favor?

BIG BIRD AND BEIBEI: Of course!

THE ARTIST: Can you count how many letters there are for Big Bird?

BEIBEI: Don’t worry. We can figure it out for you! Big Bird starts with the word “big”, which spells like, “B” -“I”- “G”; so 1, 2, 3, three letters in

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total.

BIG BIRD: “Bird” is spelled as “B”-“I”-“R” “D”; 1,2,3,4, four letters. So three letters add four, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Seven!

THE ARTIST：You boys are so intelligent, good at art design and counting numbers as well!

ALL LAUGH

THE ARTIST FINISHES THE NAME DECORATION AND SHOWS IT TO THEM BIG BIRD: Wow, this is amazing! I love it so much! This is exactly like what we planned: the mountains are at the left top, the river is at the bottom running from left to right. A little bridge stands across the river. BEIBEI: And a waterfall drop from the top of the mountains all the way down into the river. Your house is by the river. And there are 1,2,3,4, four big red lanterns hanging on each corner of the roof.

BIG BIRD: And my name is right above the river;And it’s yellow-the color of my feathers! This is fantastic!

THE ARTIST FROWNS

BEIBEI: What’s the matter? THE ARTIST: My years of experience are telling me something is missing.

BIG BIRD: Really? What’s that?

THE ARTIST: Oh, I got it! There’s no story told here in this painting.

BIG BIRD: I thought it was a name scroll. Why does it have to be a story?

THE ARTIST: Well, it will be much more interesting if there is a story in the

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painting rather than a name only. That’s the second secret of my art.

BEIBEI: But there won’t be enough space for more things to make a story. BIG BIRD: I think so too…

THE ARTIST: Doesn’t hurt to try, does it? Let me think… MUSIC

THE ARTIST STARTS SINGING

I’M AN ARTIST IN CHINATOWN

I WANT TO SET MY IDEAS DOWN

IF YOU ASK ME WHAT I’LL DO

LOOK UP,

LOOK DOWN

I’LL DRAW BEIBEI ANDYOU

TO TELL YOUR STORY IS MY AIM

THIS ART IS MY CLAIM TO FAME

SO BIG BIRD, LOOK WHAT WE’VE GOT

WE’VE GOT MOUNTAINS AT THE TOP

RIVERS RUNNING BY

A BRIDGE GOING OVER

A HOUSE STANDS ON THE SIDE

WATERFALLS FALLING DOWN

RED LANTERNS UP ABOVE THE GROUND

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BIG BIRD ACROSS THE SKY

NOW FOR THE FINAL TOUCH

WE’RE ALMOST THERE, DON’T NEED MUCH

EVERYONE LOOK AND SEE

WHAT DO WE NEED

WHAT COULD IT BE

WHAT’S MISSING

TO MAKE A STORY OUT OF THE PAINTING

WHAT’S MISSING

TO TELL A STORY ON THE SCROLL

OH, I KNOW (SINGING STOPS, ARTIST STARTS MUMBLING)

Oh, I know! Oh, I know!

BEIBEI: What is it, sir?

BIG BIRD: Tell us…

THE ARTIST PICKS UP THE INK BRUSH

AND PAINTS BEIBEI THE PANDA ON THE

SCROLL BY THE HOUSE,

SOME DUCKS IN THE RIVER,

SOME PEOPLE WALKING ACROSS THE BRIDGE,

A CANOE DRIFTING ALONG THE RIVER

THE ARTIST: Now, we have a story here.

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Doesn’t that look better?

BIG BIRD: It sure does! I have company now!

BEIBEI: Er…

THE ARTIST: What’s wrong?

BEIBEI: Is there any room to draw some more things?

THE ARTIST: Why is that? According to my YEARS of experience, this is enough.

BIG BIRD: Yeah, what do you need, Beibei?

BEIBEI: It’s just…hmm, I’d love to be in the scroll, but I need something there

which I can’t live without…

THE ARTIST: Which is...?

BEIBEI: BAMBOO!

ALL LAUGH

The End

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CHAPTER 7: CONCLUSION

The purpose of the previous examples and the new character of Beibei the

Panda on Sesame Street is to engender in American children the same acceptance of

Chinese people and culture, as they have for cute and cuddly pandas. And, in this

way, to make the Chinese cultural elements they commonly see and encounter in

daily life more interesting, more useful and more understood.

The thesis project grew with me as my internship went on at the Sesame

Workshop. It was being developed at the time when I got to be on the set of Sesame

Street and see the scripts for some of the Sesame episodes that went on air. I got to

sit in most of the script review meetings for Season China Season One, with the

Sesame China producers from May to June 2010. Because of my Chinese language

background, I could provide culture consulting to the production team. The episodes

in this thesis project, to a certain degree, must have been influenced by the

experience. The daily research on Sesame Street videos during the internship, gave

me a good understanding of all the Sesame characters as well, which made script

writing for this thesis project a fun and enjoyable experience.

From the end of July, I got hired as a production assistant for both the

Sesame Street English department, which devotes to producing multimedia

educational material for children learning English in Asia, and also the Sesame

Street Chinese project, that’s mentioned in the overview section of the thesis.

Because of the opportunity, I got to bring my thesis up to Manabu Nagaoka, the

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Executive Producer of the Sesame Street Chinese project. The feedback I got from

him and the on-going development of the project itself gave me a realistic view of

my thesis. At the moment, the Sesame Street Chinese project is repurposing the

media assets that have been developed by the Sesame Street English language

project. For example, we chose a song from the asset pool; then I translated the

English lyrics and rewrote it into easy and catchy Chinese song. And it became part

of the Sesame Street Chinese project, which includes other elements, such as games,

animation, dictionary etc. Since the Chinese project is still under development,

details of the project aren’t currently available.

China and United States are closely connected in so many aspects.

Together, they face the challenges of environmental issues, population rise and

terrorism. At the same time, the cooperation and collaboration between the two

countries is vitally important in terms of conducting business, trade, and the impact

of currency fluctuation. Therefore, a better mutual understanding will propel the

development of a positive partnership in the interest of both parties.

“Given the diversity of the United States, knowledge of other cultures is

also essential to strengthening the functioning of our own democracy and education

system.” (Asia Society, 2006, p.6) Sesame Street and Beibei the Panda joining

together will bring a brand new perspective to children in America, and enrich their

lives a little bit more.

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21. Fisch, S.M. (2004) Children’s Learning from Educational Television: Sesame Street and Beyond. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

22. Travelogue-Xi Tang. Retrieved from http://ringingear.wordpress.com/2008/08/10/travelogue-xi-tang-西塘-china-july 2007/

23. Fisch, S.M. and Truglio. R.T. (2001) “G” is for Growing: Thirty Years of

Research on Children and Sesame Street. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

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24. U.S. Department of Education. (2010). Funding Status. Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/programs/flap/funding.html 25. Westat, N.Z. Does Sesame Street Enhance School Readiness? : Evidence from a

National Survey of Children. In Shalom, F.M. & Truglio, R.T. “G” is for Growing: Thirty Years of Research on Children and Sesame Street. (pp.115-130) Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

26. U.S. Department of Education. (2010). Funding Status. Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/programs/flap/funding.html

27. Fisch, S.M. (2000). A Capacity Model of Children’s Comprehension of

Educational Content on Television. Media Psychology. 2(1), 63-91. 28. Gettas, G.J. (1990). The Globalization of Sesame Street: A Producer's

Perspective. Educational Technology Research and Development. 38(4), 55-63. 29. Great Wall Fortifications Design. Retrieved from http://www.travelchinaguide.com/china_great_wall/construction/fortifications.htm

30. Kominski. R. A. & Shin, H.B. (2008). Language Needs of School-Age Children

[PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://search.census.gov/search?q=chinese+american+children&baseUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.census.gov%2Fsearch&entqr=0&output=xml_no_dtd&ud=1&client=subsite&proxystylesheet=subsite&filter=0&hq=inurl%3Afactfinder.census.gov&subtitle=aff&sort=date%3AD%3AL%3Ad1&oe=UTF-8&ie=UTF-8

31. Leung, A.K., & Chiu,C. (2010) Multicultural Experience, Idea Receptiveness, and Creativity. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology. 0: 0022022110361707v2

32. Minow, N.N. (1961). Television and the Public Interest. [PDF document].

Retrieved from http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/PDFFiles/Newton%20Minow%20%20Television%20and%20the%20Public%20Interest.pdf

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Appendix A: Interviews with Sesame Workshop Managers

Interview with Carol-Lynn Parente, Executive Producer of Sesame Street,

Carol-Lynn’s office, May 06, 2010 Question: What is the process of introducing new puppets into Sesame Street like? Parente: With Abby, we were looking for new species on the street. We were looking for a way to teach diversity and about entering new groups. So when kids see other kids that different are from them, whether it because of race or ability or the way they dress or their hair, we’d like to model that. That awkward feeling you get when you are a kid entering a new group. We were looking for new species, and Abby is a fairy, and we don’t have any fairies on the show. And that was the reason she got developed. That was the first time in like 17 years that we added a new character. We don’t add them so often. Part of the reason for Sesame Street is that we already have so many characters and we are a show for very young children. So it’s hard for kids to learn all the characters. With Zoey and Rosita, we really made an effort to add girls to the cast, because they just were underrepresented. All the popular characters, Grover, cookie monster, Big Bird, they were all male. And so Rosita came around. We just wanted to add a female, as it turns out, Carmen, who is Mexican. We just decided to write that character to her ethnic background because she was a really strong performer and puppeteer. It is hard to find female puppeteers. So we decided to use her ethnicity in the show, but we didn’t set out to create a Spanish puppet. She was a very strong puppeteer; we decided to use her natural accent in her character. It wasn’t at first. We were just looking for a strong female puppeteer, because we were adding females. Because she naturally had this Spanish language, then it was a bonus. When you do casting, you always just want the best, funniest performer. If you could find that, it adds a dimension to the show, like language. That was great. Because now we were able to deal with a character whose language was Spanish and who also speaks English. Because when Rosita becomes angry, frustrated sometimes, she breaks into Spanish. And you have the natural ability to teach a language like that.

60

Question: Do children get a lot of exposure to foreign culture through Sesame Street? Parente: I think more than any other children’s show, because diversity is very important to us. And it has been so from the very beginning. We focus on different cultures. We have had the entire seasons where cultural diversity was the main focus. So we’ve done an entire season of African American culture and an entire season of Asian cultures. Even though those were particular season where we really went very deep into focus. We still include diversity in everything we do. And that goes from the film we commission. We also have a segment for a while called Global Grover, that was actually using films from all over the world. We actually went to the international producers, and took their films, and tried to use the films that worked the best. We would put in an English voice-over to explain what was going on. So I think Sesame Street probably has more cultural exposure than most children’s shows. You know the interesting thing is, you need to be careful when you want to be focusing on cultural diversity: it’s not to take a touristy approach to it. You are trying to show what special and unique about the culture from food to dance to dress to celebrations or traditions and yet some of the most interesting visuals can be touristy, where you are kind of feeding in stereotypes. You want to show that diversity in the most interesting way, but you also don’t want to be offensive. It’s really difficult. We go for what is the most organic way to introduce cultural differences so that it does feels like real and not insulting anyone’s heritage. I really love the idea of Beibei. This character hems and haws over decisions. It’s a very visual way to teach critical thinking. And that’s a hard thing to visualize. So having a character that double thinnks himself, that goes back. That’s really good for education. That’s really a wonderful way to get that curriculum across because that’s a tough curriculum to do. We have a format called Abby’s flying fairy school. That’s supposed to be critical thinking. It’s not strong enough yet. If we have a character like Beibei, it will get a little easier. So you’ve done a beautiful job with the character design, I think that will teach very well. Critical thinking is toughest curriculum we have. I think that’s a really good idea for that.

61

Interview with Rosemarie Truglio Vice President of Education & Research, Rosemarie’s office, May 04, 2010 Question: Sesame Street has always stressed cultural diversity. How is it represented in the show? Truglio: We try to show different cultures living together. The human cast on the Sesame Street set provides an opportunity for us to explore their culture backgrounds. We have an African American family, with Susan and Gordan; a Latino intact family, Maria and Luis. And Mr. Hooper store was run by an older Jewish man; now it’s being operated by a young Japanese American, Alan. Our most recent is Lila, who runs the laundromat. So it’s really through the human cast; we explore their cultural roots. The message has always been the same. We want to celebrate the uniqueness of a person’s culture as well as highlight the similarities. We also focus not only on cultural differences but represent people who have different abilities. And even when we represent those individuals, we’re focusing on the things that they can’t do but more importantly the things they can do in their special way. So if you’re in a wheel chair, you can’t use your legs to dance. But the wheel chair is an extension of your body, and through technology, you can dance, but you’re dancing in a different way. And we’ve done other things, such as a format called ‘Global Grover’, where that was an opportunity to have Grover go and visit friends around the world through the technique of films. And that provided the domestic show to take these films from international co-productions and bring them here domestically so that children here can see that children, while they might not look like them, they are dealing with very similar issues. The films that did the best were films where you are watching a child learn something and gain mastery. Question: What cultural aspects are touched upon frequently? Truglio: We always include dance and cultural holidays. There is a visual representation. Question: Is the project to include Chinese culture into domestic Sesame Street feasible? Truglio: The only time you get a lot of shows is when we decide what the curriculum focus is going to be for the season. So when we decided to do race relations, we decided for 4 years to highlight a culture every season. Without a curriculum focus, you are not going to get a lot of shows. It would have to be

62

determined what the curriculum focus is. For instance, for Season 40, the focus is on science and nature, they got about 15 out of 26 shows. And we decided what the goals are, and what the key messages are. Once you decide what the goals and key messages are, then the writers start writing and we have shows represent the goals and key messages. I can’t see it happening in the near future, because we are focusing on the next year or 2 years on science, technology, engineering and math.

63

Appendix B: Sesame Street Fact Sheet from Mysesameworkshop.org Contributed by Leah Baker, Production Assistant at Sesame Workshop Sunday, 25 September 2005

The Sesame Street experience is nearly universal, beginning with the television programs, extending through magazines, licensed products, daycare centers and grass-roots outreach efforts: - In the U.S. alone, there are over 74 million "graduates" of Sesame Street. - Approximately 8 million people in the U.S. tune in to Sesame Street each week. - Sesame Street is the number one program recalled by mothers of children ages 6 months to 11 years who were asked to name any children's program. - More mothers with a child under 3 watch Sesame Street than any other children's program on commercial television. - Parents of preschoolers are most likely to choose Sesame Street as the one program they would want their child to watch. - To date, Sesame Street has won 109 Emmy Awards - more Emmys than any other television show in history. - Sesame Street and its international co-productions have aired in over 120 countries since its inception, making it the most widely viewed children's series in the world. - A portion of the proceeds received from the sales of products help fund Sesame Workshop's educational programs worldwide. Sesame Street - Sesame Street books and magazines are published in 5 continents and many languages to delight and educate children the world over. In 2005, over 18 million Sesame Street books and magazines were sold worldwide.

64

- New children's book categories will be introduced 2006, including value-added Novelty Books, Educational Workbooks and Flashcards, as well as expanded traditional categories such as Coloring/Activity Books and traditional Storybooks. - Sesame Street has a series of award-winning CD ROMs, PlayStation and Game Boy titles, as well as a web site - -www.sesameworkshop.org - that educates and entertains over 1,000,000 visitors each month. Online tools have also been developed for Publishing Licensees to aid in creative development and content re-purposing, including an archive of over 250 book and magazine titles. - Healthy Habits for Life is a content-driven initiative developed to help young children and their caregivers establish an early foundation of healthy eating and physical activity. Overall health and well-being is a crucial part of our ever developing Sesame Street curriculum. - Sesame Workshop, the producers of Sesame Street, provides educationalresources featuring Sesame Street characters that are used by Ready to Learn Coordinators in workshops with caregivers and parents.

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Appendix C: Summary of Foreign Culture Content in Forty Years of Sesame Street (Muppet Wikia.com)

Season 02

198 Film

African kids play at various activities, including a game with stone.

Season 03

299 Muppets

Japanese Stories: The Young Son has until midnight to find the four mysterious dragons hidden in the royal throne room.

346 Muppets

Japanese Stories: Japan is victimized by an emperor, who boasts that he will relinquish his post to anyone who shows him something unique. Villagers bring flowers, fans, and hats, identical to those owned by the emperor, but a young girl is able to prove that she herself is different from anything else.

355/ 299 Muppets

Japanese Stories: A Japanese storyteller tells "The Mystery of the Four Dragons." An aged emperor offers the throne to his son if he can find four hidden dragons in the room.

Season 04

66

410 Muppets

Japanese Stories: The Emperor of Japan is dissatisfied with the sound his gong makes. He calls the imperial gong delivery man that presents different gongs for his approval. They're either too loud or too soft, however, until the imperial gong delivery man uses his own head as a gong.

Season 06

666 Muppets

Roosevelt Franklin Elementary School: Roosevelt Franklin talks to his class about Africa. Smart Tina thinks that Africa is just a big jungle, because she's seen it that way in Tarzan movies. Roosevelt corrects her; only a small portion of Africa is a jungle. Africa also has cities and deserts and lakes. Hard head Haris compared Africa to Smart Tina.

685/ 299 Muppets

Japanese Stories: A Japanese storyteller tells "The Mystery of the Four Dragons."An aged emperor offers the throne to his son if he can find four hidden dragons in the room.

743/ 299 Muppets


Season 07

67

803/ 299 Muppets


880/ 666 Muppets

Roosevelt Franklin Elementary School: Roosevelt Franklin talks to his class about Africa. Smart Tina thinks that Africa is just a big jungle, because she's seen it that way in Tarzan movies. Roosevelt corrects her; only a small portion of Africa is a jungle.

Season 08 926 Film A giant panda walks around. 963 Film Preparing Mexican tortillas 1031/ 573 Film Preparing Mexican tortillas 1041 Cartoon The pink panther karate

1052/ 299 Muppets


935 Scene

Luis and Maria demonstrate some of the musical instruments associated with the Puerto Rican and Mexican cultures.

Season 09

1056 Film Footage of a Chinese noodle factory

68

1059/ 346 Muppets

Japanese Stories: Japan is victimized by an emperor, who boasts that he will relinquish his post to anyone who shows him something unique. Villagers bring flowers, fans, and hats, identical to those owned by the emperor, but a young girl is able to prove that she herself is different from anything else.

1061/ 198 Film

African children play with bone-like marbles.

1088/ 128 Film

Sesame Street Animal Films: African animals

1092 Scene 2

Oscar witnesses Buffy and some kids talking about their nationalities.

1094 Cartoon K is for Karate.

1100 Film

People in different countries are seen running. A Mexican girl is seen on a swing in a playground.

1100 Film How Chinese noodles are made. 1124/ 573 Film Tortillas 1128/ 813 Film "Indian Baby Bath" 1141/ 1056 Film

Footage of a Chinese noodle factory

1150/ 346 Muppets

Japanese Stories: Japan is victimized by an emperor, who boasts that he will relinquish his post to anyone who shows him something unique. Villagers bring flowers, fans, and hats, identical to those owned by the emperor, but a young girl is able to prove

1153/128 Film

Sesame Street Animal Films: African animals

1159/926 Film

Sesame Street Animal Films: Panda

69

1164 Film Sesame Street Animal Films: African lizards

Season 11

1316 Puerto Rico

1396 Film Russian nesting doll 1-10 1525/ 1094 Cartoon K is for Karate. Season 17

2179 Muppets Ernie and Bert explore an Egyptian pyramid.

2269/ 1094 Film

Elephants (African percussion soundtrack)

2282 Cartoon P is for Pyramid.

2341 Film

Two boys working at the family Mexican restaurant show how they prepare for the day, and how tacos and enchiladas are made.

Season 19 2363/ 2282 Animation P is for Pyramid.

Cartoon The alphabet Song (Country, gospel, Mexican)

2366/ 2341 Film


2395 Cartoon The pink panther karate

2453/ 299 Muppets


2483 Cartoon A report on homes around the world

70

Season 20

2558 Film Children dance to different rhythms from around the world.

2574 Cartoon How they say "good night" in Haiti and in India.

2610/ 2404

Sesame Street News Flash London Fog

Season 21 2687/ 2574 Cartoon

How they say "good night" in Haiti and in India.

2727/ 2574 Cartoon


Season 22

2749/ 2687 Film

A boy who lives in the Congo (in Africa) narrates a film of the kinds of games he and his friends play.

Animation

A girl unfolds a map and uses it to describe her trip to Mexico, stopping in Texas along the way.

2754/ 1041 Cartoon The Pink Panther Karate

2754 Film Two kids help an old Chinese man get his dragon kite in the air.

2755 Cartoon

A map of African morphs into the shape of animals that are found there.

2781/ 2404 Muppets African Alphabet Song

2782 Animation

A map of China morphs into the shape of animals and things that are found there.

2783 Film A girl goes to school somewhere in Africa.

71

2784/ 2282 Animation P is for Pyramid. 2789/1056 Film

Footage of a Chinese noodle factory

Cartoon Gloria Globe pulls a tiger out of her hat, which belongs to India.

2820 Cartoon "Do the Continental"-two kids jump into Africa

Season 23 2876/ 2483 Cartoon

A report on homes around the world

2877 Cartoon

Gloria Globe is about to pull a rabbit out of her hat, but pulls out a kangaroo instead, which belongs in Australia.

2900/ 1396 Film Russian nesting doll 1-10

2932/ 2755 Animation

A map Africa morphs into the shape of animals that are found there.

2946/ 2877 Cartoon

Gloria Globe is about to pull a rabbit out of her hat, but pulls out a kangaroo instead, which belongs in Australia.



2955/ 2855 Cartoon

Gloria Globe attempts to pull a rabbit out of her hat, but pulls out a camel instead, which belongs in Egypt.

2963/ 813 Cartoon

A group of Oriental children demonstrates the concept of in and out, by climbing in and out of a gigantic time.

72

2969 Animation Floral patterns are formed to Eastern European music.

2977 Film Members of the Congo nation get together for a ceremonial dance.

3008/ 2755 Cartoon




3021 Cartoon

A map of Australia morphs into the shape of animals that are found there.


Floral patterns are formed to Eastern European music.

3031 Cartoon Zork lands in Australia, where a kangaroo greets him.

Cartoon Gloria Globe sings "I Am the World."

3037/ 2483 Cartoon


3038/ 2755 Cartoon


3047/ 2341 Film


3048/ 2616 Muppets

Waiter Grover: Mr Johnson eats at an airport restaurant and is on his way to South America. When Grover learns about Mr. Johnson's trip, he gives a big lecture on South America, causing Mr Johnson to miss his flight.

3056/ 1041 Cartoon The pink panther karate

73

Animation

A map of Australia morphs into the shape of animals that are found there.

3057/ 2558 Film

Children dance to different rhythms from around the world.

3059/ 2977 Muppets

Caribbean Anything Muppets sing about "Caribbean Air".

3073 Cartoon

Gloria Globe appears sick and ailing, because of pollution and damage to the planet. Only by taking better care of the Earth can Gloria become well again.

Animation "We are kids from Far and Wide."

3076 Film A girl narrates a film of how pan dulce, Mexican bread is made.

3079 Muppets African Alphabet Song 3080/ 2820 Film

"Do the Continental"-two kids jump into Africa

3081 Film

A Puerto Rican family get-together includes cooking, playing soccer, and finally the big dinner

Cartoon A report on homes around the world

Film A girl goes to school somewhere in Africa.

Animation Counting to 10 (Latin rhythm)

Film Footage of a Chinese noodle factory

3091 3093

Film A giant panda walks around.

74

3098 Muppets

Waiter Grover: Mr Johnson eats at an airport restaurant and is on his way to South America. When Grover learns about Mr. Johnson's trip, he gives a big lecture on South America, causing Mr Johnson to miss his flight.

Cartoon How they say "good night" in Haiti and in India.

Cartoon K is for Karate.

Film

A girl named Maria and her family is having a Cuban Bar-B-Q. She invited her friend, Stewart to enjoy the fun and learn about Cuban culture.

3100

Cartoon

A map of Puerto Rico forms into the shape of animals and other things that are found there.

Cartoon

Gloria Globe attempts to pull a rabbit out of her hat, but pulls out a camel instead, which belongs in Egypt. 3102

Film

In a village in Africa, people catch fish and celebrate afterwards.

Film

In South America, they say'Buenos Dias' for good morning, and 'Buenos Noches' for good night. 3105

Animation "We are kids from Far and Wide."-Columbia

Cartoon Zork lands in Australia, where a kangaroo greets him.

Cartoon P is for Pyramid.

3108

Film A girl narrates a film of how pan dulce, Mexican bread is made.

75

Film


3119 Muppets "African Alphabet Song" 3123/2558 Cartoon

Children dance to different rhythms from around the world.

Cartoon

Gloria Globe appears sick and ailing, because of pollution and damage to the planet. Only by taking better care of the Earth can Gloria become well again.

Cartoon "Do the Continental"-two kids jump into Africa

Film

A girl goes to school somewhere in Africa. We see the girl getting ready to go to school as she washes herself and brushes her teeth, puts on here clothes, brushes her hair, and takes her lunch, all with some help from her mother. We see her walking past

Film

Gilberto, who lives in Central America, learns how bricks are made.

3127

Film


Celebrity

Paul Silmon and Ladysmith Black Mambazo sing the African Alphabet Song. 3134

Animation African quilt pattern #2

3135/3105 Muppets

In South America, they say 'Buenos Dias' for good morning and 'Buenos Noches' for good night.

76

Season 26

3283 Film A group of girls dance a Korean spring dance.

Film A Japanese mother shows her son how to play taiko drum.

3374 Animation

"We are kids from Far and Wide": Jittar, who lives in Thailand, describes the holiday of Songkran.

Animation Counting to 10 (Latin rhythm)


A map of Africa morphs into the shape of animals that are found there.

Season 30 3786/ 3145 Cartoon African quilt pattern

3792 Film A Karate team punches out the alphabet.

3793/ 3145 Cartoon African quilt pattern Cartoon Egyptian #2

Cartoon

The moon listens to everyone say "Good night" in different languages.

3797 Cartoon K is for Karate. Film Kids in a park do Karate kicks. Cartoon The pink panther karate 3812 Cartoon African quilt pattern 3827 Cartoon African quilt pattern 3834 Animation African quilt pattern #2 Cartoon The pink panther karate Cartoon African quilt pattern Cartoon K is for Karate. 3836 Film Kids in a park do Karate kicks. 3849/3134 Animation African quilt pattern #2

77

Season 27

Film

Xiao-Mei from northern China describes a festical at the end of every year that her family participates in. Each day of the festival, there is a new show to watch, a series of parades and lots of food like noodles and dumplings. Women prepare floats for t

3408

Film

Lucia, who lives in Argentina, narrates a segment where she visits her abuelo's chocolate factory, where they make candy out of chocolate and mazapan.


"We are kids from Far and Wide": Bali, Indonesia

3425 Film Korean festival

Animation Counting up to 11 (African masks)

3426 Film An Indian boy narrates how Chapati bread is made.

3427 Film A Japanese mother shows her son how to play taiko drum.

Film

In Tinidad, Asha and her friends practice a dance on stilts in preparation for a carnival.

3480/ 3145 Cartoon African quilt pattern

Film Podrigo lives in Philippines spent a day with his family at the park.

Film A Judo class does 20 jumping jack.

3522 Film An Indian boy narrates how Chapati bread is made.

Animation Counting from 1-10 (Latin rhythm)

Season 28 3540/2483 Cartoon


78

Season 29 3664/ 3140 Film

Children in Jamaica learn how to make their own tie-dyed shirts.


Film An Indian boy narrates how Chapati bread is made.

3671 Cartoon


Song "The African Animal Alphabet"

Film A boy in Jamaica goes to school and attends drum class.

3673 Cartoon "Do the Continental"-two kids jump into Africa

Animation "We are kids from Far and Wide"-Columbia

3688 Cartoon


Film A girl narrates a film of how pan dulce, Mexican bread is made.


Cartoon


Film


3694/ 3048 Animation Counting to 10 (Latin rhythm)

79

3695 Film

Rory, the green-belt aged 6, goes to Karate class and learns under his senei, where he does toe touches, kickin, stretches, jumping jacks, and an unnamed move consisting of tumbling, then posing. Not only do they practice inside, but they also practice outside in the park.

Film Korean girls do a spring dance. 3696/ 3108 Animation

Zork lands in Australia, where a kangaroo greets him.

3699 Animation Counting up to 11 (African masks)

Film A Karate team punches out the alphabet.

3701 Cartoon "We are kids from Far and Wide"-West Africa

Film

Kids rehearse a large group African dance in the park, get their faces painted, and perform.

3702 Film

Miles live in Kuwait, and sometimes play staiko drums at the park.

Film

In a village in Africa, people catch fish and celebrate afterwards.

3712/ 3695 Cartoon Korean girls do a spring dance. 3713 Cartoon Egyptian #2


Cartoon


80

3714/ 3408 Film

Xiao-Mei from northern China describes a festival at the end of every year that her family participates in. Each day of the festival, there is a new show to watch, a series of parades and lots of food like noodles and dumplings. Women prepare floats for the parade which men dress up as river animals. Xiao-Mei's favorite is the lion dance. Xiao-Mei also demonstrates how she can walk on tilts which are strapped to her leg, and hopes someday to dance in the big parade.

3717 Cartoon African quilt pattern

Film

Kids rehearse a large group African dance in the park, get their faces painted, and perform.

3723 Animation Counting from 10-0 (Latin rhythm)




3741/ 2574 Cartoon


Film

A girl goes to school somewhere in Africa. We see the girl getting ready to go to school as she washes herself and brushes her teeth, puts on her clothes, brushes her hair, and takes her lunch, all with some help from her mother. We see her walking past

3745 Cartoon In Egypt, three lemons make lemonade.

3750/3162 Film

A girl narrates a segment about a Korean festival. She attended

81

with her two friends.

3751/ 2749 Film


3752 Cartoon

A map of India morphs into the shape of animals that are found there.

3761/ 3134 Animation African quilt pattern #2

Film An Indian boy narrates how Chapati bread is made.

3763/ 3076 Film

A girl narrates a film of how pan dulce, Mexican bread is made.

Song "African Animal Alphabet" Animation Counting to 10 (Latin rhythm) 3766/ 3699 Film Karate team

3770 Film Kids in Jamaica play bongo drums


"We are kids from Far and Wide": A girl describes the preparation for the Galungan festival in Bali, Indonesia.

Cartoon African quilt pattern 3775/ 3671 Song "The African Animal Alphabet" 3776/ 3465 Film A trip to an African dance school 3779/ 1396 Film Russian nesting doll 1-10

3783/ 3162 Film

A girl narrates a segment about a Korean festival. She attended with her two friends.

3785/ 2574 Cartoon


82

Season 31

Episode Format Content

3851 Film

Kids rehearse a large group African dance in the park, get their faces painted.

3860 Cartoon Egyptian #4


3872/ 3136 Muppets

Baby Tooth and the Funky Funk (Caribbean dance part 1.2)

3874

Animation Counting to 10(Chinese imagery)

Film Chinese acrobats balance 4 plates on sticks in each hand

3876 Film Five Chinese kid acrobats jump through hoops

3885

Celebrity The Count counts the musicians in the Tokyo String Quartet.

3886 Muppets Caribbean Anything Muppets sing about "Caribbean Air"

3888 Film A girl narrates a film of how pan dulce, Mexican bread, is made.

83

3889 Cartoon Egyptian #2


Cartoon "We Are Kids from Far and Wide" West Africa

3896


3901/ 3671 Song Song "The African Animal Alphabet"

3902


3903 Film Chinese acrobats balance 4 plates on sticks in each hand

3909 Film

A girl narrates a segment about a Korean festival she attended with her two friends.

3911



Season 32

3917/ 3098 Film

Michael introduces his friend to the Afro-Brazilian martial art capoeira.

3919/ 3699 Cartoon



3924 Cartoon African quilt pattern #3

84


3940/ 3194 Cartoon African quilt pattern

3843 Film A girl narrates a film of how pan dulce bread is made, Mexican.

3947 Cartoon African quilt pattern 3952 Cartoon African quilt pattern #2 3954 Song "The African Animal Alphabet"

3954 Cartoon

Dinah from South Carolina exchanges letters with her friend Ling Lu in China.

3961/ 3845 Film

The Tokyo String Quartet and some kids show how important it is to practice.

Film Four Chinese acrobats do stunts with giant spools.

Film Counting 10 Australian animals. 3962 Cartoon Egyptian # 4 Cartoon African quilt pattern


3972 Film A Haitian girl writes a letter to her grandmother.

Season 33


3982 Film Egyptian figures illustrate the number 4.

3983 Film A trip to an African dance school 3986 Topic Lost bird from Paraguay 3998 Film Chinese acrobats demonstrate "5" Season 34

4031 Muppets/Film

Global Grover: Grover returns from having attended school somewhere in Africa.

4044 Muppets Global Grover: Malaysia, Kites

85

4047 Muppets Global Grover: "There's a lot of different ways to get to school."

4056 Muppets Global Grover: Grover returns from Egypt with his camel.

Season 35

4060 Muppets/Film

Global Grover: Grover comes back from Malaysia, where they make kites with bamboo sticks, strings, glue and paper.

4062 Muppets/Film

Global Grover: Grover returns from Russia and shows a film of a boy who attends a Russian dance school.

4065 Muppets/Film

Global Grover: Grover returns from having attended school somewhere in Africa.

4066 Muppets

Global Grover: Grover returns from Poland with a pile of old clothes. In his film he explains the function and construction of scarecrows, and afterwards he creates a scarecrow of his own and dressed up as a crow to demonstrate its effects.

4067 Muppets Global Grover: Australia

4068 Muppets

Global Grover: Grover has driven back from South Africa in his wire car. In his film, Niyanja and his cousins make toy cars out of scrap wire.

4069 Film "Kibbutz” Children make a play house in Israel.

4070 Muppets

G'day! Grover returns from Australia. In his film, Emily and her family fulfill the role of wildlife rescue volunteers.

4072/4039 Muppets

Global Grover: Grover travels to Mongolia to watch the traditional Mongolian bowl dance.

86

4073 Muppets

Global Grover: Grover has just swum back to Sesame Street from Jamaica where he learned how to tie-dye a shirt, but he lost his shirt in the process.

4075 Muppets

Global Grover: Grover has just taken a trip all over the globe and learned about different ways people bathe.

4076 Muppets

Global Grover: Grover has returned from Alaska on a dog sled.

4078 Muppets

Global Grover: Grover returns from Nicaragua carrying bricks that he made himself.

4079 Muppets

Global Grover: Grover comes back from Argentina, where they make candy out of chocolate and mazapan.

4081 Muppets

Global Grover: Grover and his burro Roberto return from Mexico with a lump of clay.

4082 Muppets Global Grover: Egypt Season 36

4084/4058 Muppets

Global Grover: Grover comes back from Jordan, where they make baskets from banana leaves.

4085/3100 Film

A girl name Maria and her family are having a Cuban Bar-B-Q. She invited her friend, Stewart, to enjoy in the fun and learn about Cuban culture.

4087 Film

Joey, the green-belt aged 6, goes to Karate class and learns under his sense.

Muppets

Global Grover: Grover returns from England and is ready to play a new game.

4089 Muppets Global Grover: Grover returns from Egypt with his camel.

87

4092 Muppets

Global Grover: Grover has just returned from the deserts of Arizona.

4093 Muppets Global Grover: "There's a lot of different ways to get to school."

4094 Muppets

Global Grover: Grover goes to Mongolia to learn a bout bowl dancing.

4095 Muppets Global Grover: Grover returns from Bangladesh.

4096 Cold Open

Rosita comments that there is great food around the world; She also said how eating food together with family is a great way also. Together with here family, they are getting ready to eat Chinese food.

Film A girl narrates a film of how pan dulce bread is made, Mexican.

Muppets

Global Grover: Grover and his burro Roberto return from Mexico with a lump of clay.

2479 Animation


Cartoon In Egypt, three lemons make lemonade.

4098 Muppets Global Grover: Africa

4100 Muppets/Celebrity

India: Arie and Elmo sing The Alphabet Song

Muppets

Global Grover: Grover has just taken a trip all over the globe and learned about different ways people bathe.

4101 Muppets

Global Grover: Grover arrives wearing an Indian vest and holding an Indian board game called Carrom.

4103 Muppets Global Grover: Jamaica

88

4104 Muppets


4105 Muppets

Global Grover: Grover returns from Puerto Rico with a guiro-a musical instrument made from a piece of fruit.

4106/ 4069 Muppets

Global Grover: Grover goes to Israel and meets some of the kids at a Kibbutz. The children at the Kibbutz make a play house together.

4107 Muppets

Global Grover: Grover returns from China with a peacock and persuade it to do its peacock dance.

Season 37

4109 Muppets Global Grover: Grover returns from Iceland with an empty box.

Muppets

Global Grover: returns from Bangladesh with a fruit basket of "art supplies." 4110

Film Egyptian 2

4111 Animation

A clay animation of Russian, Arabian, and South American scenes

4112 Muppets

Global Grover: Grover has come back from Jamaica, where he learned to tie-dye T-shirts.

4113 Muppets

Global Grover: Grover returns from Puerto Rico with a guiro-a musical instrument made from a piece of fruit.

4114 Muppets

Global Grover: Grover returns from the Netherlands, and wishes to learn how to ride a bicycle.

4115 Muppets Global Grover: Grover has surfed back from Hawaii.

89

4116/ 4047 Muppets

Global Grover: Grover has returned from a trip around the world and resolves to ride his camel Sidney to school.

4117 Muppets

Global Grover: Grover returns from Jordan with a basket. In his film, a grandmother teaches her grandchildren to make baskets from banana leaves.

4118 Muppets

Global Grover: Grover returns from England and is ready to play a new game. In his film, a child learns how to play cricket in school.

4119 Muppets

Global Grover: Grover returns from Saskatchewan on his steed Fred. In his film, Jody teaches Shelby how to be a cowgirl on their ranch.

4120/ 3480

Muppets/Film

Global Grover: Grover returns from the Philippines with a slide. In his film, Rodrigo and his family play at a Manila park.

4121 Muppets

Global Grover: Grover has brought back coconut leaves from Bangladesh. In his film, a child retrieves coconut leaves fro his friends to make toys from.

4122/ 4085 Muppets

Global Grover: Grover returns from Poland with a pile of old clothes. In his film he explains the function and construction of scarecrows, and afterwards he creates a scarecrow of his own and dressed up as a crow to demonstrate its effects.

90

4124/ 4059 Muppets

Global Grover: Grover has returned from Mexico with a homemade string puppet. In his film, Tita crafts a puppet of her very own and puts on a puppet show.

4125/ 4067 Muppets

Global Grover: Grover and a kangaroo named Sheila return from Australia. In his film, Lenny demonstrates his dugout house. Afterwards, Grover and Sheila try digging a house of their own on Sesame Street, with unforeseen consequences.

4126/ 4079 Muppets

Global Grover: Grover returns from Argentina with a box of candy. In his film, Lucia watches her grandparents make candy in their chocolate factory. Afterwards, the Three Little Pigs come and compliment Grover on his candy pig.

4127/ 4070 Muppets

Global Grover: G'day! Grover returns from Australia. In his film, Emily and her family fulfill the role of wildlife rescue volunteers.

4128 Muppets

Global Grover: Grover and his burro Roberto return from Mexico with a lump of clay. In his film, Saul and his family make clay pottery. Afterwards Grover completes his sculpture, which he calls "Potato." Roberto has created a more interesting composition, however.

Animation


91

4129 Muppets

Global Grover: Grover returns from Bangladesh. He narrates his film, in which Runa and her father travel to a river to fish. Afterwards Grover tries to play a taiko drum. Afterwards, Grover has had his drum fixed and is ready to play.

4132 Muppets

Global Grover: Grover returns from Germany with a bundle of reeds. In his film, Paul's father helps make a thatched roof. Grover has built himself a thatched hat similar to a birdhouse roof…attracting the attention of all birds in the vicinity.

4133/ 4056 Muppets

Global Grover: Grover returns from Egypt with his camel Sidney. In his film, Achmed visits his cousins and works on a farm. Afterwards he prepared to eat the basket of lunch that he brought back…but Sidney ate it all!

4134/ 4068 Muppets


Season 38

4151 Muppets

Global Grover: Grover visits Paris, France, where he learns how to shop for food at a French market.

4152/3927 Animation Egyptian #2

92

4156/ 3427 Muppets

Global Grover: Grover returns from Trinidad on a pair of stilts. In his film Asha and her friends practice and dance on stilts in preparation for a carnival. Afterward, Grover muses about the things he's learned to do on stilts…including the need to practice more!

4157/ 3081 Film

A Puerto Rican family get-together includes cooking, playing soccer, and finally the big dinner

Muppets/ Film

Global Grover: Grover returns from having attended school somewhere in Africa. The elephant has never been to school, so Grover shows him about a girl as she prepares to go to school. After the film, Grover has written the word "boy". The elephant show what he has learned by jumping.

4158


4164/ 4101 Muppets

Global Grover: Grover arrives wearing on Indian vest and holding an Indian board game called Carrom.


Egyptian figures illustrate the number 4

4169/ 3770 Film

Kids in Jamaica play bongo drums

4170/ 4100

Muppets/Celebrity

India: Arie and Elmo sing The Alphabet Song

4171/ 3978 Film Chinese acrobats demonstrate "5" 4174/ 3713 Animation Egyptian #2

93

4175/ 4070 Muppets

Global Grover: G'day! Grover returns from Australia.


A clay animation of Russian, Arabian, and South American scenes

4178/ 3671 Song "The African Animal Alphabet"

4183/ 4061 Muppets

Global Grover: Grover returns from Saskatchewan on his steed Fred.

4184 Film A boy shows how sushi is made.

Date post:	04-Nov-2021
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Integrating Chinese culture into Sesame Street

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