Vocabulary Instruction on Sesame Street: A Content Analysis of the Word on the Street Initiative.

Purpose: Authors of this content analysis examined how Sesame Street's Word on the Street initiative aligns with research-based practices for selecting and teaching vocabulary to young children and considered how speech-language pathologists can use educational media to supplement traditional vocabulary instruction.

Method: Study authors used a well-established vocabulary selection hierarchy to analyze 170 target words across 7 seasons of Word on the Street to judge appropriateness for preschool vocabulary instruction. The authors then coded vocabulary instruction across 96 episodes to determine frequency and types of teaching strategies used within this educational program.

Teaching letter sounds to kindergarten English language learners using incremental rehearsal.

Proficiency in letter-sound correspondence is important for decoding connected text. This study examined the effects of an evidence-based intervention, incremental rehearsal (IR), on the letter-sound expression of three kindergarten English language learners (ELLs) performing below the district benchmark for letter-sound fluency. Participants were native speakers of Hmong, Spanish, and Polish.