Reading Rainbow and The Importance of Literacy

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AshleyEpidemic

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On the same day that the world lost Maya Angelou, LeVar Burton also set out on a track to attempt to bring Reading Rainbow back into the forefront of introducing reading to children. In 2012, Burton brought Reading Rainbow back partially in the form of an monthly subscription app that is doing fairly well. Now he's taking it a step further and reviving Reading Rainbow in the form of webisodes (which won't replicate the previous format exactly) and more content for the app.

I grew up watching Reading Rainbow. So maybe it just opens up a special place in my heart that spurs me into action. However, the intense feelings I have about getting this out to other kids isn't about me. Yes, it helped me and instilled a desire to learn and read, but I'm no longer the target. I can read. I just hope that other kids can be inspired by the content that will be provided. I wrote more about that on my blog, but I won't put out all my feels here because I want to know what others think about the situation.

Not everyone gets the feels over Reading Rainbow like I do and not everyone is on board with this idea. Most of the criticisms such as Washington Post's boil down to this new iteration of Reading Rainbow not being free like the PBS version was. Which gets under my skin a bit because while PBS was free to the public, the app requires just as much behind the scenes stuff to keep it aloft and not crash and burn. Maybe I'm seeing things oddly, but I'm not seeing any negative reasons to not help another program that advocates reading among children.

Now that I've ended my rant, I'm curious what others think positive and negative about the latest incarnation of Reading Rainbow.
 

Jamesaritchie

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My kids grew up on Reading Rainbow, and I watched it right along with them. It was wonderful.
 

Bartholomew

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I threw some money his way. Also dedicated my Thursday comic to Reading Rainbow.

(Mod note: had to remove the image as it was humongous!)
 
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Kylabelle

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Hey, that is one awesome comic but could you please edit your post and put a version in there that's no larger than 400 x 400 pixels? That's our size limit for images in thread.

Sorry I had to take that down though. :( So please do repost a smaller version!

Thanks.
 

Bartholomew

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Hey, that is one awesome comic but could you please edit your post and put a version in there that's no larger than 400 x 400 pixels? That's our size limit for images in thread.

Sorry I had to take that down though. :( So please do repost a smaller version!

Thanks.

No worries. : ) Sorry about the hugeness.

It's... kinda terrible at 400 wide. Link'll have to do.
 

chompers

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I don't think I ever watched a full episode of Reading Rainbow, but I still think it's a wonderful show and one that definitely should be brought back. There's so much junk out there these days. It's refreshing to see one that actually has meaning.

And I don't know why this crossed my mind, but I was thinking that when they started the show 30 years ago, I don't think they realized just how much of an impact they would be making for so many generations. It's kind of cool that it remained on the air so long and is being brought back, and that it's remembered so fondly.
 

harmonyisarine

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We had two TV stations when I was growing up (four by the time I was in middle school, woot!). One of them had Reading Rainbow. I still remember specific episodes. LeVar Burton just did such a fantastic job of making reading look as fun as it can be, which I know got a lot of kids to give it a shot.

Seeing as I'm at that age where my friends are all starting to have kids, I'm so excited that this is coming now. I just wish I had enough money to donate a level where I'd get to dedicate a school for a special assembly.
 

chompers

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We had two TV stations when I was growing up (four by the time I was in middle school, woot!). One of them had Reading Rainbow. I still remember specific episodes. LeVar Burton just did such a fantastic job of making reading look as fun as it can be, which I know got a lot of kids to give it a shot.

Seeing as I'm at that age where my friends are all starting to have kids, I'm so excited that this is coming now. I just wish I had enough money to donate a level where I'd get to dedicate a school for a special assembly.
There was a guy who started a Kickstarter to raise funds to donate to a school for the special assembly. It's a school in Mesquite, Texas.
 

harmonyisarine

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There was a guy who started a Kickstarter to raise funds to donate to a school for the special assembly. It's a school in Mesquite, Texas.

I wondered if a school or few would do that. I should point this out to my teacher sister to see if her school could (or would want to) try that (well, maybe not a Kickstarter, but some sort of fundraiser). At the least, they can be aware for when it goes online for all the rest of the schools.
 

WeaselFire

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Most of the criticisms such as Washington Post's boil down to this new iteration of Reading Rainbow not being free like the PBS version was.
The PBS version was never free. It was paid for by someone else, which isn't the same thing. There would still be a PBS version if someone would still pay for it.

The app itself may not be free, but it is/will be free to the schools involved. That's what the fund raising is for, to pay for the free stuff. Funny, that's what the PBS fund raising was for as well.

Now, I'm certain every author on the planet, and every publisher on the planet, will give Reading Rainbow the rights to the work at no charge. Wait, if they did that, PBS would not have run out of funding for Reading Rainbow and it would still be on...

Jeff
 

Jamesaritchie

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The PBS version was never free. It was paid for by someone else, which isn't the same thing. There would still be a PBS version if someone would still pay for it.

The app itself may not be free, but it is/will be free to the schools involved. That's what the fund raising is for, to pay for the free stuff. Funny, that's what the PBS fund raising was for as well.

Now, I'm certain every author on the planet, and every publisher on the planet, will give Reading Rainbow the rights to the work at no charge. Wait, if they did that, PBS would not have run out of funding for Reading Rainbow and it would still be on...

Jeff

PBS didn't run out of funding for Reading Rainbow, they just decided it was time for it to go to make room for something new. They moved the funding.
 
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