PBS KIDS in the Classroom

Many producers create educational materials to help teachers reinforce the learning goals of PBS KIDS programming. For each of the on-air or Web-original series, teachers can find information on the educational philosophy of the series, episode descriptions and related online content, and classroom activities or lesson plans to help extend the learning of PBS KIDS programming in the classroom.  Check out some featured links below:

Pre-K

• Dinosaur Train
• Sid the Science Kid

Grades K-1

• The Cat In the Hat 
• Chuck Vanderchuck

Grades 2-5

• SciGirls
• Cyberchase

Grades 6-8

• Design Squad
• It’s My Life

Each series also has special content for Teachers, Parents, and Kids to make sure that the right information is presented to the audience.

PBS Parents: How To Help Children With Science Fair Projects Without Doing It For Them

“Science Mom” Courtney Corda is the Vice President of Science Buddies.

Science Fair season means that parents everywhere are preparing to help their children with their projects.  When your child works on a science project, she is putting the scientific method into action and learning more about how to actively understand the world around her. Her assignment is clear, but as a parent, how involved should you be?  Where is the line between too helpful and just right?  These guidelines can help you support your child in an appropriate way.

Each month, PBS Parents features an Expert Q & A  with questions answered directly from experts covering a wide range of parenting topics. You’ll also have a chance to share your own expert tips with other parents.  Join the conversation!

Video Lending Library Feature: “Seven Wonders of the Buddhist World”

Join historian Bettany Hughes as she explores the different beliefs and practices that form the core of the Buddhist philosophy and investigate how Buddhism started and where it traveled to, through visits to seven of the most spectacular monuments built by Buddhists across the globe. The name of the DVD is Seven Wonders of the Buddhist World, it runs for 72 minutes and the ID number is 2251. Borrow it for a month by clicking here.

New Tools For Using Video in the Classroom

From eSchool News, by staff writers and wire reports –  TED, a nonprofit organization devoted to spreading big ideas through a series of conferences and a free video platform, has continued its expansion into education by launching a brand-new TED-Ed website with tools to help teachers use video in the classroom.

The new platform allows educators to customize videos with follow-up questions and assignments, TED says—an initiative that could help power the “flipped learning” model. Read the full story.  The WGBY staff loves TED talks and think they are a great classroom resource.  Tell us: have you ever used TED talks with your students?

WGBY celebrates Teacher Appreciation Week

This week, WGBY would like to acknowledge Teacher Appreciation Week. We recognize that, often times, a teacher’s work is taken for granted by our society.  We read the headlines that highlight struggles of educators including (but not limited to) lay-offs, merit-based pay, standardized testing, under-resourced schools, among many other important issues.  Molding young minds and inspiring interest in furthering their knowledge is an occupation that, though not handsomely compensated in pay, can be rewarding in a different way.  Seeing students go on to great things and knowing you were a part of their path has been described to us by teachers as a source of incredible pride and accomplishment.  We hope you know that each one of you is an inspiration, motivating us to work hard for you and provide the best support we can.

To all the educators around our region, WGBY thanks you for your hard work and dedication!

 

Image from Cognitive Psychology

Online Field Trips from PBS LearningMedia

Students usually love just hearing that they’re going on a field trip.  While it can be wonderful for them to explore worlds beyond their classroom walls, PBS LearningMedia also provides digital resources so students can visit places near and far to expand their horizons without leaving the classroom.

Here’s just a sampling of PBS LearningMedia online field trips and field trip support that you might consider for students:

Inquiry Based Learning:  Park Rangers (Grades K-2, 13+) Listen to questioning techniques a park ranger uses with children on a field trip and examine how open-ended questions and real-world experiences can help students learn.  Recognize the value of involving elementary students in real-world investigations that help them develop inquiry skills in environmental science.

American Chestnut Tree (Grades 6-12)  This annotated slideshow shows the devastating impact of blight on the American chestnut tree. Students learn the scientific processes used to identify the remaining trees, document their locations, and cross-pollinate them with other varieties of chestnut trees to create hybrids that are blight-resistant.

Related Content:  Restoration of the American Chestnut  (Grades 6-12) In this video segment students learn how a majestic old chestnut tree that miraculously survived the blight is being preserved, studied, and pollinated under the watchful eye of scientists.  Both resources on the American Chestnut offer background essays and discussion questions as support materials.

Check out new Spanish vocab resources from OH NOAH!

Oh Noah!, the fun and funny PBS KIDS GO! web series (formerly known as Noah Comprende), is rolling out a line-up of new animated interactive videos and games that introduce kids to Spanish. Games embedded in the videos, together with other interactive challenges and adventures on the website, provide children ages six to eight with an engaging introduction to Spanish vocabulary and common phrases.

The videos star nine-year-old Noah, who is staying with his grandmother in a community where everyone speaks Spanish. A series of misunderstandings launch comic misadventures for Noah, as he tries to communicate with others who don’t speak English. In Noah’s new adventures, language misunderstandings take him to the Arctic in a madcap search for a mama polar bear, to a dude ranch, where he lands on the back of a bucking bronco, and to the circus, where he finds himself part of a daring trapeze act.  Somehow Noah always manages to solve the problems he’s created, learning Spanish in the process. Kids and their parents laugh and learn along with him.

“A goal of Oh Noah! is to help young children benefit from learning more than one language at an early age,” says Mariana Swick, bilingual educator and advisor to Oh Noah!.  According to the Center for Applied Linguistics, the benefits include improving a child’s understanding of his or her native language, having a positive effect on intellectual growth, enriching and enhancing a child’s mental development, and promoting more flexibility in thinking, greater sensitivity to language, and a better ear for listening.

The bilingual dialogue of Oh Noah! introduces Spanish to English speakers and also offers English language learning support to Spanish speakers.  Changing demographics in the United States make clear the importance of learning Spanish.  According to the 2009 United States Census, Spanish is the primary language spoken at home by over 48.4 million people age five or older.  The United States is the world’s second-largest Spanish-speaking community, second only to Mexico.