As an early childhood/primary educator my entire professional career, the fact that I share the EXACT same birthday with such an American classic as Sesame Street makes me rather happy.  Today, Sesame Street and I are celebrating our 45th birthdays.  It is rare to have a show that we watched growing up as a child still have such influence several decades later on our own children (although my children are grown).  As a child, I can remember reading the book "The Monster At The End Of This Book" over and over and over.  Needless to say, when I came across a copy of the book several years ago, I felt the need to replace my long lost childhood copy!

Currently, in my own classroom, we are learning about the American Revolution and discussing the qualities of a leader as we address civics standards.  I love showing vintage Sesame Street clips about the Revolution.  With the clips being available on Youtube, I have the ability to stop and engage the kids in a discussion about what what might be fact or fiction.  For example, did Grover really show up wanting to throw a surprise party for the Hessians or did George Washington have a different kind of surprise in mind? As we are discussing the attributes of a leader, how did George Washington problem solve all of the passengers being on either one end or the other end of the boat when they were not listening to directions?  I love adding this to a lesson to engage the students and get them to think! 

As an adult, if you haven't spent some time watching a clip or two, I encourage you to do so.  Sesame Street has influenced so many of us at one point and time in our life and for this I am thankful.  

AND...since it is a Monday, I think I will close with a very current SS including another one of my new favorites...Kid President.  Happy Monday and Happy Birthday to Sesame Street!