The Time Warp Trio

Remember the post about lame and "tainted" summer school curriculum (July 7, Classroom Inc.). This new series on the Discovery Kids' Channel is based on the popular books of Brooklyn's own Jon Scieszka. Imagine the enthusiasm that could have been built by using these books in conjunction with the television show and the extensive Discovery Channel site that supports it. This should have been a no brainer for those 25 year old Management Consultants that run Tweed. About the show:"Time Warp Trio is a new action-adventure animated series airing Saturday mornings on Discovery Kids on NBC and weeknights on the Discovery Kids Channel. The Time Warp Trio website takes the fun and the history from each episode to a whole new interactive level! Kids can continue their wild travel adventures with the Time Warp gang at the Time Warp Trio website (http://www.timewarptrio.com), which they can get from DiscoveryKids.com. Targeting kids 6 to 11 years old, the Time Warp Trio website goes beyond the TV series by warping real kids into history! While playing “Green Mist Mysteries,” young detectives become active participants in actual Time Warp Trio stories: If Joe, Sam and Fred wind up face to face with Blackbeard -- again! -- can you figure out how to warp them back home? Also, be sure to watch out for Mad Jack -- he’s hidden in every episode of Time Warp Trio! He’s been stealing artifacts throughout time, and visitors to the site will engage in missions to return them in “Put It Back, Jack!” In “Sandwiches of Time,” kids try to keep the Trio from being stranded in the cosmos before they can warp home, by using their knowledge of history. The site complements all 26 episodes of Time Warp Trio and includes games, research adventures, write-in features, interactive stories and materials for parents and teachers such as the following: “Green Mist Mysteries” -- In-depth interactive Time Warp Trio stories revisiting a time and place to which the Trio has warped. Kids meet challenges and make choices to alter the course of events in the story. “Put It Back, Jack!” -- 26 episode-related fact-finding missions. Kids must return a stolen artifact to the correct time and place by answering questions based on information provided in the Plentifax 487” -- 26 guides to each time and place visited by the Time Warp Trio presented in a humorous, futuristic “gizmo” format.“Messages Across Time” -- Kids can (safely) leave messages for other kids to find in each of the 26 adventure destinations.“Sandwiches of Time” -- A history quiz in which players keep the Trio from being kicked out of Mabel's Diner (a rest stop for time travelers) by making BLTs with their correct answers. If you can guess how tall Napoleon was, you’ll win a piece of lettuce! The quiz includes a tell-a-friend form for bragging about the score.“Sound Detective” -- Warning! This game has a high gross-out factor! It’s a wacky sound effects quiz in which the answers are sounds from specific times and places in history (was that a toilet flushing or just Fred burping?). “Wordsplosion” -- Magnetic poetry comes alive when kids write poetic messages to e-mail to their friends, using words specific to different Time Warp Trio adventures.“Say It, Don’t Spray It!” -- Six history-themed rotating questions with posted answers submitted to the site by kids. “TWT on TV” -- Short clips from the TV series, including the series’ catchy opening song by the cool punk band Riddlin’ Kids!“Who’s Who?” -- An ever-increasing collection of factual and funny bios of key historical characters plus the core Time Warp Trio characters. “Newsletter” -- Kids can sign up to receive a weekly COPPA-compliant newsletter that will announce new features and any Time Warp Trio-worthy news of note. “Parents’ & Teachers’” -- This area, geared specifically for parents, teachers and home school educators will engage kids in history through fun activities based on the shows. It will include an introductory essay written by Jon Scieszka, original lesson plans for each adventure and an annotated list of resources for students and teachers, including books and links to relevant websites."
Here's a Time Warp Trio slide show