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The Reentry Project. Reading Rainbow "Visiting
Day"
Reading Rainbow, hosted by LeVar Burton, is a critically-acclaimed
award-winning half-hour PBS series that turns children on to books and
reading. The series targets 4-8 year olds, and is based on research
that identifies these early years as the optimum time for children to
learn to read, and to adopt positive reading habits, skills, and attitudes.
A new episode of Reading Rainbow, "Visiting Day,"
aired on December 15, 2004 and again on January 17, 2005. In this episode,
LeVar introduces a family separated by a prison sentence. The viewing
audiences join the family for visiting day and find out what life is
like for kids when a parent is incarcerated and what it's like for a
parent who can't be at home with his family.
Series Goals
Helping Kids Prepare for School
Having an interest in books, reading, the world, and
learning is key to success in school. Reading Rainbow motivates
children to read, introduces them to new experiences, teaches respect
for others, and helps them develop a positive self-concept. It also reinforces
the fundamentals of literacy - comprehension, grasping the main idea,
predicting the outcome, comparing and contrasting, extending the story
to other experiences, summarizing, sequencing, organizing information,
and using descriptive language.
Reading Rainbow's dynamic, fast-paced, magazine-style format
features on-location adventures, colorful animation, and hip music videos.
Popular personalities, including Bill Cosby, Tyne Daly, and Whoopi Goldberg,
narrate the program's feature book, while captivating illustrations
appear on-screen. "Kid-on-the-street" interviews allow real
kids to sound off about issues, and in every episode kids the age of
viewers recommend three additional books to read.
In July 1983 Reading Rainbow premiered as a summer television
series with the intent to promote reading during non-school months.
By 1990 the series moved to year around broadcast and, presently, each
of the 139 episodes air about twice a year. Over the years, Reading
Rainbow has expanded its scope of topics and issues while keeping the
joy of reading at the center of its message. Some of these episodes
explore science and math, while others include social issues such as
homelessness, the Vietnam Memorial, music of slavery, and youngsters
talking about gangs and their community of Watts.
Reading Rainbow has been recognized with over 150 awards: 18
Emmys (seven for "Outstanding Children's Series"), a prestigious
Peabody, eight CINE Golden Eagles, seven Parent's Choice Awards, and
three international Prix Jeunesse Awards. In a more personal way, the
series' impact is acknowledged by the actions of children. Librarians
and booksellers report that books featured on episodes receive enormous
requests and quickly become "classics" in kids' personal libraries;
and young children often ask for books seen on Reading Rainbow by title
and sometimes even by author.
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