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Word World, simply
stated, is an animated, comic adventure where friends use words
to save the day. Word World is an entirely new reality -- a world
populated by WordThings -- characters, objects, and in general, all
manner of "things" -- all of whose shapes are formed by the letters
that spell out who or what they are. Sound impossible? Ha! I guess
you haven't been to Word World! It's a place where a Bee is not
only a buzzing, honey-making insect, but is also comprised of the
letters B-E-E. A train's shape is created from the letters T-R-A-I-N,
coupled together on the Word World rail road line. And a bear? You
guessed it: Her head and body are made up of the letters B-E-A-R.
In Word World, words are the stars of the show unlike ever before!
But make no mistake, the inhabitants of Word World are characters first and an agglomeration of letters second. The stories are funny and kid-centric, driven by the relationships of the ensemble cast of Bear, Frog, Sheep, Pig and Dog (and quite a few others). Word World, you might say, recalls the narrative magic of the Hundred-Acre Wood. But Word World has an additional layer of magic - when Bear or Frog or Sheep or anyone else puts letters together to form a word, that word instantly morphs into a WordThing. In Word World, this is called "word-building," and it is through building words that our WordThing friends meet challenges, solve problems, and, ultimately, save the day!
In sum, two concepts drive the fun: A cast of characters rich with real relationships and comic foibles, all of whom kids will instantly relate to, and the wordplay and word-building that comes naturally from characters living in a world of words.
The resolution of every story in Word World hinges (humorously) on our word-building moments, and those word-building moments hinge upon the acquisition of various literacy-based skills, like compound words, word families, rhyming, word play - the list goes on. And Children watching are encouraged to interact with their friends on screen -- join the WordThings in acquiring letters and building words. And it's a great payoff for them when the word "morphs" into brilliant, three dimensional life and solves the story! These interactive moments blend in seamlessly with the narrative story and reinforce the take-away word or concept offered in the episode.
Word World is a portal, an entry point into the wonderful, magical world of reading and writing. By exposing preschoolers to the idea that letters represent sounds, which in turn make up words -- words which, finally, stand for real things in life, we are laying the foundations of a bridge to emergent literacy. Word World crosses the gulf between words and the things they represent. And by doing it through fun, exciting, interactive stories, we are inspiring children to venture ever further into the world of reading and writing. You won't find a lot of literacy terminology floating around Word World, but what kids will find is a deeper understanding of the underlying concepts of emergent literacy - how words are built, and the meaning - and power - they contain.
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