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  • - Educational Philosophy
  • - Episode Descriptions
  • - Character Descriptions
  • - Questions and Answers
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Over thirty years ago, an educational television show dared to speak to youth in the voice of their generation. The Electric Company turned on the power of possibility for kids by showing them that learning to read can be fun. In 2009, the power is surging back with the all-new The Electric Company, produced by Sesame Workshop. With a cool cast of characters, amazing literacy superpowers, side-splitting cartoons, and songs that you can't help dancing along with, this reincarnation of a television classic is sure to make an impact on the newest generation. The Electric Company aims to entertain children between the ages of 6 and 9 while simultaneously teaching four crucial areas of literacy that are challenging for struggling readers:

• Decoding: Children will increase their ability to manipulate sounds in spoken words and map those words to print.
• Vocabulary: Children will expand the amount of words (vocabulary) that they use and understand.
• Comprehension of Connected Text: Children will learn strategies that good readers use to understand connected text (phrases and sentences).
• Motivation: Children will be motivated to read connected text and express themselves using text.

Like the original series, the new show filters these educational goals through pop culture — music, comedy, technology, and celebrities — to create a playful, hip, multimedia experience. Unlike the original series, each new episode of The Electric Company includes a narrative with regular characters. This narrative portion of each show teaches 4 or 5 domain-based vocabulary words within a compelling context that children can understand. In addition, the show also includes three "curriculum commercial breaks" that convey the curriculum's phonics and connected text, and motivation goals. These "curriculum commercial breaks" consist of a variety of short-form segments: sketches, animations and songs.

"The Electric Company"® and all related characters, logos and design elements are owned and licensed by Sesame Workshop.© 2011 Sesame Workshop. All Rights Reserved.
The contents of this Web site were developed under a cooperative agreement, #PRU295A050003, from the U.S. Department of Education. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.