KIDS FIRST! News

Miss Rosa and Mr. Steve, two new teacher/presenters will join the PBS Kids preschool block, wrapping around shows and segments, on May 19 2008.  Played by Jennifer Pena, Miss Rosa is a teacher who will introduce Spanish-language words and phrases into the preschool-targeted block, while Steve Roslonek (aka SteveSongs) will portray Mr. Steve, a music teacher who will fold-in original songs and music related to each day’s theme. teacher and actress Jennifer Peña will guide kids through curriculum-based activities and introduce Spanish words and phrases as “Miss Rosa,” and musician Steve Roslonek will join as the music teacher, “Mr. Steve,” performing interactive original songs and music related to the day’s curriculum theme.

On May 9, 2008, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center held its first annual Symposium called “Logging Into The Playground: How Digital Media Are Shaping Children’s Learning.” Leaders from across research, communications, education and policy convened to set a new benchmark for the way in which digital media is used to improve children’s literacy, learning and development.Michael Levine, Executive Director for The Joan Ganz Cooney Center, said: “Digital media is driving what is now a multi-billion-dollar business that shapes the learning and entertainment experiences of most school-age children.” He added: “It is our mission to counsel the industry’s movers, shakers and policymakers and provide a needed bridge to what has become traditional education’s fourth and fifth “Rs”, reform and research. Wise and informed investments will harness the growing power and full potential of digital media’s use in educating young children.”Gee’s recommendations include: funding digital research and development to invest in what works; establishing a digital teacher corps for the nation’s lowest performing schools; designing alternative assessments and new standards; creating community-based literacy tech centers across the country; establishing Governor’s digital partnership schools; and finally, modernizing public broadcasting investments in digital platforms for the next generation.The agenda for the day-long symposium also featured child-led demonstrations of new technologies and a hands-on forum promoting two dozen of the best digital media initiatives in the world. Attendees were shown one of the first demonstrations of BOOM BLOX, a new game for Nintendo Wii developed by EA in association with director Steven Spielberg along with promising emerging technologies from exhibitors including: Community Building with Google Earth by Google Earth creator and Google Chief Technology Advocate, Michael T. Jones; Web-based books in English and Spanish by the Center for Applied Special Technology, to help individuals, especially those most at risk, to gain knowledge, skills, and enthusiasm for reading; IBM’s Traducelo AHORA! (“Translate Now!”) that uses IBM WebSphere software to translate web sites from English to Spanish for schools, community organizations, as well as parents so they can correspond directly with teachers no matter what language is spoken at home; and an Apple in the Classroom demo by Kathy Shirley, an Apple Distinguished Educator, on using iPods to strengthen reading fluency and comprehension.More details on the reports and Symposium are found on the Joan Ganz Cooney website.

Producer Ove Sander treats audiences with a heartfelt story that is sure to bring a smile to the faces of anyone who watches it. The short-film “Paul’s Grandpa” is the story of a small boy who wants to have a grandpa and he makes his wish come true.In this article, Sanders gives us his thoughts on the film and what it means to him to be part of the KIDS FIRST! Film Festival:I came up with this idea because I have been fascinated by the power of imagination and fantasy that kids use when they play and the way they interact with us adults. Sometimes we manage to play along but sometimes we cannot or do not want to share their vision. I believe that this imagination can make a lot of things happen. That’s what the film is about.Currently, I am working as a filmmaker – specializing in camerawork. Before I started studying film at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne, Germany, I had worked as a freelance camera-assistant on various projects. By working for very experienced DOPs during that time, I learned what it means to tell stories and emotions through images. “Paul’s Grandpa” has been the first fiction that I have both directed and also worked as DOP on. That’s why this project is so important to me.People usually say that working with children and animals is most challenging – well, for “Paul’s Grandpa,” the “grandpa” was especially unpredictable because it was very fragile. We had a total of three different “grandpas” that were used in the different scenes. The head was especially difficult to work with when we did close-ups. We had four operators using remote controls to control small motors inside the character. For all the scenes with the “grandpa” and Paul the timing of the movements was critical. All scenes were shot in real-time, and no computer generated images were used.The film reaches a wide audience. Recently we were awarded “best short” by a children’s jury at a festival – they especially liked that no computer animation was used in our film – we were all very proud about that. In this film I think that I have learned that a simple and clear story is most important for the film – especially in a short film. It has little dialogue and story is told clearly with powerful images. I believe that the way that we did the film tricks, not using aiming at perfect illusion but rather using simple but charming techniques, leaves more room for the audience’s imagination and can be more authentic.I was very excited to be able to have “Pauls Grandpa” as part of KIDS FIRST! Film Festival. As part of a traveling festival, the film has the opportunity to reach audiences in different parts of the country. I am especially proud that the last children’s film that I worked on as a DOP (Tanzmause – Dancing Darlings) has already been part of the festival and was nominated Best Short in 2006. It’s great to be back.You can see a clip of “Paul’s Grandpa (aka Paul’s Opa) online at http://www.kidsfirst.org/detail/207400.html.

Our Happy Child Productions produces high quality, entertaining family-friendly programming for children ages 1-5 years.  It develops and commercializes characters and content for TV, DVDs, CDs and licensing. Our Happy Child Productions is the creator of The Wheels on the Bus series: a collection of multi award-winning educational videos that teach early socialization skills such as sharing, helping, cooperation and good nutrition to young children.Find the Fun Productions. At Find the Fun Productions and American History for Kids they want kids to get it.Therefore, they teach kids about the 13 Colonies, the American Revolution, the U.S. Constitution, the Magna Carta, slavery, the Civil War and President Lincoln using a unique theatrical and emotional context that employs a wide range of creative teaching modalities such as music, puppetry, humor, and relating history to kids’ everyday lives. They use these techniques because they know that getting students to relate to the distant events of the past is often difficult. And educational research shows that emotional involvement is an integral aspect of learning and that creativity is an essential tool for powerful learning retention.Marshall Publishing and Promotions, Inc. is a multi-faceted media publishing organization. Their goal is to provide lots and lots of media fun for everyone through award-winning DVDs, books, CDs, CD-roms, and broadcast and internet programming that will amaze, amuse, entertain, and educate.Their award-winning AS SEEN ON TV products like LOTS & LOTS of TRAINS and LOTS & LOTS of FIRE TRUCKS provide family fun for ages 3 to 93 and are not readily available in stores! Their goal is to produce quality programs to watch today and remember for a lifetime. Be sure to collect the entire series of Lots and Lots of DVDs, CDs, and Books!Storytellin’ Time is dedicated to providing quality, educational,fun recordings for children and their families. Storytelling is presented to students and at teacher workshops acrossthe United States

Jennifer Sherman has supervised as well as animated on productions such as “Jacob Two Two,” “Max and Ruby,” “Yummi-Land,” “Futz” and “Peep and the Big Wide World” for 9 Story Entertainment since March 2003.Since graduating from Sheridan College in 1988, she has been involved in the animation industry in Toronto on many levels. Jennifer has animated on a number of television commercials, televisions series, and also worked on a feature film for companies such as Lightbox Studios, The Animation House, Calibre and Nelvana. The transition from classical animation to digital computer animation was a natural progression for Jennifer in 2002.CP: Looking at your background, it seems that you have covered a multitude of styles in animation. What do you feel is your strongest area and what do you enjoy doing the most?JS: What I feel is my strongest area is character driven scenes. I love it when a character makes you feel the way they feel and have you believe in them. There’s something powerful in a subtle head turn or gesture that makes you forget it’s not real. When I watch really well done animation, I love to get lost in the character and the story.CP: What brought you to 9 Story Entertainment?JS: A colleague of mine recommended I apply for a position as an animator. At the time I had no idea how Flash animation was done but he said, “Animation is animation no matter what the format is, it’s simply a different tool.” True enough.CP: Jacob Two Two is very different from Peep and the Big Wide World, which you also worked on. What steps do you take to capture the magic of Jacob?JS: Jacob is geared to a bit older audience than Peep so this allows us to explore a broader range of issues that older kids deal with. There are so many different personalities in the show that each character brings a familiarity with it. Growing up even today, I’m sure lots of kids have to deal with a group of bullies, an annoying older sibling, geeky friends or a science teacher that’s just plain weird. It’s a show that is rewarding to be able to really act out all these different characters. The voice actors really help drive the characters in this show. As an animator you are given the sound track and a roughly timed storyboard to work with. When the sound track is inspiring the animators, imagination can take over and this can really add to the scene.CP: Please give me an interesting anecdote of something behind the scenes in the Jacob Two Two production.JS: There were times when I was attempting to explain how a scene should play out and I would find myself acting out the line for the animator to “get” what I was meaning. It’s pretty goofy to see a grown woman acting out something Greedy Guts would say and do like sobbing at the thought of having his doughnuts taken away.Jacob’s character is a really nice reminder that it’s okay to mess up and not always be perfect at everything you do. The important thing is that he’s always willing to try. That’s something I believe we can all relate to.CP: In your opinion, how has Jacob Two Two benefited from its affiliation with qubo?JS: It’s great that qubo has been able to take a quality show like Jacob Two Two and bring it to a new and larger audience to experience and enjoy.CP: Is there anything you would like to add?JS: I believe all animators are actors inside with the ability to be anyone or anything they create. The only limitation in animation is your imagination, so stretch those imagination muscles kids and dream big!