Summary
Lisa, Hector, Jessica, and Keith try to save the house of J.T. Bookbinder, the author of Goodnight, Robot. Francine's mother is planning to tear it down and build a hotel called The Francine, but the gang try to prove that Francine might like the book. The group must get 1,000 signatures to preserve the house, or else it gets torn down. Villain: Francine Note: In order to preserve J.T.'s house, the Electric Company is hosting a read-in while dressed up as the characters from Goodnight, Robot: *Hector as the Robot *Lisa as Sara, the girl in pigtails decorated with red scrunchies and matching pajamas (she carries a teddy bear in her arm) *Keith as the Dalmatian (dog)|Dalmatian *Jessica as the Green Extraterrestrial life in fiction|Alien Everybody makes sure there are no fake signatures until Hector begins to read the book. Words: Inspire, signature, petition, verify, and preserve Like every Electric Company adventure, the story hangs on reading, decoding, and vocabulary under pressure.
Viewer safety
Our rating is a quick teacher-to-teacher guide — preview before showing.
Teaching resources
Discussion questions
Discussion
Every Electric Company episode builds its story around wordballs — words the team reads, decodes, and uses under pressure. Watch for the vocabulary the episode leans on and how the characters puzzle words out.
- Which words did the Electric Company have to read or decode to solve the problem?
- How did a character figure out a word they didn't know at first?
- Where could you use one of this episode's words this week?
Quick work-a-long
Vocabulary: decode, wordball, clue, solve.
Try it: Keep a wordball list while you watch — every word the show spotlights goes on the board, and each student picks one to use in a sentence afterward.