The 30-minute special includes an interview with New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks, who talks about the Department of Education's shift toward a phonics-based curriculum and how it's already showing positive results. We interview a kindergarten teacher and go inside her classroom as she shows us how she instructs phonics.
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The special also includes an interview with legendary entertainer, Carol Burnett, who talks to us about being a child-literacy advocate since the early days of her stellar career. The show also features a story about what the New York Public Libraryis doing to bridge the literacy gap between home and the classroom. We speak to a librarian about the NYPL's after-school tutoring program and a second grade student whose reading skills have soared since being tutored.
"Literacy for Life" also profiles Barbershop Books, a nationwide program that started in Harlem, designed to help instill a love for reading in young Black boys and other at-risk youth.
Finally, we end the show with a candid conversation with Whoopi Goldberg, who speaks about her struggle with dyslexia as a child and how she learned to overcome it. Whoopi is just one of many reading role models we profile in our uplifting special.
Literacy for Life: A Protect Our Children Special Presentation
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Throughout the show, there will also be informative and inspirational bumps about literacy and the people working tirelessly to get books in the hands of every child and instill a love for reading.