Grant Closed

Using Television to Expand the Vocabulary of Beginning Readers

NCER

Program: Small Business Innovation Research

Award amount: $471,599

Principal investigator: Daniel Shanahan

Awardee:

Sirius Thinking, Ltd.

Year: 2005

Project type:

Phase I Development

Award number: R305S050042

Purpose

Researchers have identified vocabulary as an essential component of literacy development and a strong predictor of later reading ability. Young students who do not have large vocabularies often struggle to comprehend what they are reading. One medium that may have great potential in facilitating the development of children's vocabulary is educational television. The purpose of this project is to produce vocabulary building video segments and embedding these segments in the popular children's educational television series Between the Lions.

Project Activities

This research team is developing video segments to be embedded in the Between the Lions television program. They are also developing a computer-based version of the videos accompanied by interactive electronic storybooks and a linked animated dictionary. An initial evaluation of these products will assess the effects of these technologies on kindergarten and first grade children in two New York City public schools.

People and institutions involved

IES program contact(s)

Edward Metz

IES Research Scientist

NCER

Products and publications

Products: Products will include six vocabulary-building segments that employ a number of instructional techniques, an animated dictionary linked to an electronic storybook, a computer-based interface that includes electronic storybooks from the show Between the Lions, and an animated dictionary linked to selected words from the storybooks.