Lisa's First Word promotion due to the 1984 Summer Olympics boycott by the Soviet Union, as happened to Krusty. At one point in the episode, Dr. Hibbert refers to Olympic gymnastic medalist Mary Lou Retton. In its original American broadcast, "Lisa's First Word" was watched by 28.6 million viewers, the most-watched episode of the season. It finished thirteenth in the ratings for the week of November 30 to December 6, 1992, with a Nielsen rating of 16.6. The episode was the highest-rated show on Fox that week. It acquired the highest national Nielsen rating of the show since the season two episode "Bart
Word sort understanding that can be developed in a variety of ways. Comparing sounds is the easiest task for developing phonemic awareness. Sound sorts can be introduced very early on and develop strategically throughout primary learning. An ability to sort sounds is essential for early reading because sound manipulation is a stepping stone to word study and decoding ability. For some students a direct instructional approach is not necessary in the development of sound study and sorting. Other children who have had less exposure or lack the understanding of sounds and their manipulability may need further instruction to develop their ability. Teachers