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 certain elements, young children make sense of words and patterns within words. Word sorts combine both constructivist learning and teacher-directed instruction. Students receive a stack of cards containing either pictures or words that have several types of contrasting sounds, patterns, or meanings. Each student must then figure out the patterns that exist within the stack, and sort the cards accordingly. By doing this, students construct their own knowledge of words, creating a lasting understanding of how language works. This process contrasts greatly to the simple memorization related to traditional spelling tests. The more students understand about the structure of words