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Shmoop Literature Guides and Biographies Now Available Through Discovery Education streaming PLUS

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:
Christina Scripps, Discovery Education
240-662-6502
christina_scripps@discovery.com

Emily Embury, C. Blohm & Associates
608-216-7300, ext. 19
emily@cblohm.com

— New resources empower educators to bring classic literature and historical personalities to life–

Silver Spring, Md. (July 20, 2011) – Discovery Education announces that Literature Guides and Biographies from Shmoop, a digital curriculum company that makes fun, rigorous learning and teaching materials, are now available in Discovery Education streaming PLUS.

Shmoop’s Literature Guides and Biographies are written by Ph.D. students from Stanford, Harvard, UC Berkley, and other top universities. Shmoop is known for its sense of humor and knack for pop culture. For example, Shmoop introduces students to The Great Gatsby by comparing the novel to the television shows “Real Housewives” and “The Sopranos.”

“Shmoop content is wonderfully engaging and fun for today’s students,” said Kelli Campbell, senior vice president, Discovery Education. “Shmoop Learning Guides are a valuable addition to the curricular content in Discovery Education streaming PLUS. Shmoop’s use of current events and pop culture helps students see how these topics are applicable today.”

Among the classics brought to life by Shmoop’s Literature Guides and now available through Discovery Education are:

  • William Shakespeare’s King Lear, Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet
  • Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations
  • Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
  • Various 20th century masterpieces, including The Grapes of Wrath, The Great Gatsby, Our Town, Catch-22, 1984, and A Wrinkle in Time.

    • In addition, Shmoop Biographies highlight a combination of authors and presidents including:

  • Edgar Allan Poe, Emily Dickinson, Earnest Hemingway, and Ralph Ellison
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt, George Washington, John Kennedy, and Thomas Jefferson

    • “Shmoop is a double-shot of intellectual espresso for young minds that have been lulled to sleep by boring textbooks that don’t speak students’ language,” said Ellen Siminoff, president and CEO of Shmoop. “This collaboration helps us energize even more students, by pairing our popular content with a leading platform for digital education content.”

    Discovery Education streaming PLUS supports educators as they integrate digital content into school curriculum. The most comprehensive digital teaching resource available today, Discovery Education streaming Plus features a collection of more than 150,000 of the newest learning objects, all designed for easy integration into a curriculum and correlated to state and national standards and assessments.

    Discovery Education is the leading provider of high-quality, curriculum-based digital content and professional development resources whose services are available in more than half of all U.S. schools. For more information about Discovery Education streaming PLUS, or any other products and services from Discovery Education, visit www.discoveryeducation.com or call 800-323-9084.

    About Discovery Education
    Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) revolutionized television with Discovery Channel and is now transforming classrooms through Discovery Education. Powered by the number one nonfiction media company in the world, Discovery Education combines scientifically proven, standards-based digital media and a dynamic user community in order to empower teachers to improve student achievement. Already, more than half of all U.S. schools access Discovery Education digital services. Explore the future of education at www.discoveryeducation.com.

    About Shmoop
    Shmoop is a digital curriculum and test prep company that makes fun, rigorous learning and teaching materials. Shmoop content is written by master teachers and Ph.D. students from Stanford, Harvard, UC Berkeley, and other top universities. Shmoop Learning Guides, Test Prep, and Teacher’s Editions balance a teen-friendly, approachable style with academically rigorous materials to help students understand how subjects relate to their daily lives. Shmoop offers more than 7,000 titles across the Web, iPhone, Android devices, iPad, Kindle, Nook, and Sony Reader. The company has been honored twice by the Webby Awards and was named “Best in Tech 2011” by Scholastic Administrator. Launched in 2008, Shmoop is headquartered in a Labradoodle-patrolled office in Mountain View, Calif.

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