About the Series
d ➡ Do
ea
View ➡ R
BETWEEN THE LIONS is named for a family of lions—Theo, Cleo, Lionel,
and Leona—who run a library like no other on earth. The doors
“between the lions” swing open to reveal a magical place where
characters pop off the pages of books, vowels sings, and words take
on a life of their own. The series combines innovative puppetry,
animation, live action, and music to achieve its educational
mission of helping young children learn to read.
Since its premiere on PBS in 2000, BETWEEN THE LIONS has become a favorite of kids,
parents, caregivers, and teachers. The series has won eight Emmy Awards and
many other honors. Each episode contains two stories and uses a comprehensive
literacy curriculum to teach children while it entertains. Educators have found
that BETWEEN THE LIONS is an ideal way to teach reading, while encouraging children
to develop a love of reading and books. Children and their families have discovered
that watching together is a great way to introduce literacy in the home as they
laugh, dance, or sing along with the show!
BETWEEN THE LIONS is an innovative way to enhance any literacy program, from
preschool through early elementary school. Its lively songs, humor, and characters
are a valuable aid for helping children to learn—and love—reading. The educational
goals of BETWEEN THE LIONS are to:
• Model reading, writing, speaking, and listening behaviors.
• Motivate children by demonstrating that reading and writing
are fun and crucial to other kinds of learning experiences.
• Introduce viewers to the skills that will help them learn to read: phonemic
awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and text comprehension.
• Acquaint children with a wide variety of text styles.
When you use BETWEEN THE LIONS in the classroom you may want to choose episodes
that connect with other topics and activities in your own curriculum, such as
animals, transportation, or helping others. You can adapt any of the activities
to suit your own classroom routines and teaching style. You may also want to:
• Prepare your children for viewing by talking about the Lion family.
• Encourage active viewing: discuss what’s happening on screen, sing
and dance along, and encourage children to interact with the characters.
• Stop the show periodically and talk about what has happened so far to be sure
they understand what’s going on.
These View-Read-Do activities are fun, easy to do, and support the educational goals
and skills of BETWEEN THE LIONS. They offer a wide range of literacy skill development.
We have designed these activities to accompany some of the BETWEEN THE LIONS
episodes airing on your local PBS station. To purchase BETWEEN THE LIONS videos
and DVDs, please visit shop.WGBH.org. BETWEEN THE LIONS videos and DVDs are
also available through major distributors of educational videos.
More
About the View-Read-Do Model
Based on the PBS Ready to Learn Learning Triangle, the “View-Read-Do”
format is a suggested sequence for using BETWEEN THE LIONS in your classroom.
First, View the show, then Read a related book, and finally Do something
fun and active. (It is fine to change the sequence to fit your own needs, for
example, do-view-read, read-view-do, etc.)
Read…
View…
aloud a book
that is related
to the episode.
a BETWEEN THE LIONS
episode (or part
of an episode).
Adapted from PBS Ready To Learn materials. Used with permission.
Do…
a hands-on activity that extends the learning and the fun!
The View-Read-Do Learning Triangle model is an educationally sound way
to use television in the classroom because:
• Viewing high-quality children’s television is a great way to introduce and
explore a topic.
• Reading related books reinforces literacy skills.
• Activities help children practice self-expression and listening skills,
learn vocabulary words, and acquire new information through personal
experience.
BETWEEN THE LIONS is produced by WGBH Boston, Sirius Thinking, Ltd, and Mississippi Public Broadcasting. BETWEEN THE LIONS is funded in part by The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a
cooperative agreement from the U.S. Department of Education’s Ready To Learn grant, and by the Barksdale Reading Institute. National corporate funding is provided by Chick-fil-A.
Development of the contents herein was funded in part by the Park Foundation and the Civil Society Institute. This document was developed in part under a cooperative agreement between the
U.S. Department of Education, The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the Public Broadcasting Service for the Ready To Learn Initiative, PR#s U295A050003 and U295B050003. However,
these contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. ©2002, 2009 WGBH Educational
Foundation and Sirius Thinking Ltd. All rights reserved. BETWEEN THE LIONS, Get Wild About Reading and the BTL characters and related indicia are trademarks or registered trademarks of WGBH
Educational Foundation. All third party trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Funding for the original development of this fact sheet was provided by the AT&T Family Care
Development Fund.
About the Series
page 2
View-Read-Do
Content Chart
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Activity
Face Cookies
Episode
“The Popcorn Popper/
Oh, Yes, It Can!”
Book
The Gingerbread Man
by Karen Schmidt
#907
Fan Mail
“Dear Mr. Blueberry/
I Wanna Iguana”
Dear Juno
by Soxung Pak
#705
Finger Play Rhymes
“A Shower of Stars/
Two Moons and
Finger Rhymes and Hand
Rhymes by Marc Brown
One Lagoon”
#504
Home, Sweet
(Rock) Home
“Sylvester and the
Magic Pebble/
If You Find a Rock
by Peggy Christian
I Miss You, Stinky Face”
#507
Monster Puppets
“Here Come the Aliens/
Abiyoyo”
Abiyoyo Returns
by Pete Seeger
#606
Moo Cow Café
“Click, Clack, Moo/
The Little Red Hen”
Bunny Cakes
by Rosemary Wells
#506
Obstacle Course
“Trosclair and the Alligator/
The Coyote and
Sheila Rae, the Brave
by Kevin Henkes
the Rabbit”
#809
Parade of Feelings
“I Don’t Want a Birthday
Party/ Knuffle Bunny”
Tough Boris
by Mem Fox
#810
Plant Pals
“The Carrot Seed/
The Empty Pot”
Flower Garden
by Eve Bunting
#502
Each BETWEEN THE LIONS episode contains two stories. The title in boldface indicates which story is featured in
the View-Read-Do Activity.
More
Activity
Puppet Talk
Episode
“ A Tasty Piece of Cheese/
Book
Duck in the Truck
The Lion and the Mouse” by Jez Alborough
#508
Red Light,
Green Light
“It’s Red, It’s Green!/
Joseph Had a Little Overcoat” A Book of Colors
#510
Rhythm and Rhyme
Red Is a Dragon:
“Violet’s Music/
What Instrument Does
by Roseanne Thong
Jazz Baby?
by Carole Boston Weatherford
Alvin Play?"
#706
Someone Special
Portrait
“ Sylvester and the Magic
Pebble/ I Miss You,
Mama, Do You Love Me?
by Barbara Joosse
Stinky Face”
#507
Sorting Letters
Pigs, Pigs, Pigs!/
Nighty Night
The Three Little Pigs”
by Margaret Wild
#501
Each View-Read-Do featured is two pages long. When making multiple copies,
we recommend you make them double-sided.
To purchase BETWEEN THE LIONS videos and DVDs, please visit
shop.WGBH.org. BETWEEN THE LIONS videos and DVDs are also
available through major distributors of educational videos.
BETWEEN THE LIONS is produced by WGBH Boston, Sirius Thinking, Ltd, and Mississippi Public Broadcasting. BETWEEN THE LIONS is funded in part by The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a
cooperative agreement from the U.S. Department of Education’s Ready To Learn grant, and by the Barksdale Reading Institute. National corporate funding is provided by Chick-fil-A.
Development of the contents herein was funded in part by the Park Foundation and the Civil Society Institute. This document was developed in part under a cooperative agreement between the
U.S. Department of Education, The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the Public Broadcasting Service for the Ready To Learn Initiative, PR#s U295A050003 and U295B050003. However,
these contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. ©2002, 2009 WGBH Educational
Foundation and Sirius Thinking Ltd. All rights reserved. BETWEEN THE LIONS, Get Wild About Reading and the BTL characters and related indicia are trademarks or registered trademarks of WGBH
Educational Foundation. All third party trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Funding for the original development of this fact sheet was provided by the AT&T Family Care
Development Fund.
View-Read-Do
Content Chart
page 2