DonorsChoose.org for Support & Supplies for Schools

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, along with other organizations, donates to DonorsChoose.org  to support teachers from math and science to the humanities with resources for their specific ideas. In the June issue of Vanity Fair magazine, Melinda Gates writes her first Spotlight on this organization that provides support and supplies to American schools, saying it’s “such a smart, simple concept.  Every student deserves a great education, and DonorsChoose helps teachers deliver on that promise.’

DonorsChoose.org lets you share the needs of your classroom with a generous community eager to help.   According to the site, supporters have brought teachers’ ideas to life in more than half of all U.S. public schools. The site provides information about how DonorsChoose works and how teachers can get started, asking “What change do you want in your classroom?”

A great question –We hope you’ll check out DonorsChoose.org and let us know what you think!

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Hispanic History, Culture & Spanish Speaking Skills

Expand  students’ understanding of Hispanic history and culture while helping to develop their Spanish language skills with resources from PBS Learning Media.   These  featured interactive games, video clips, and lesson plans  are designed to engage learners and enhance curriculum.  If you’ve  yet to do so, you can  create a free account on PBS LearningMedia to search, save, and share your favorite resources.

The Storm that Swept Mexico: Revolutionary Art
Grades 9-12 | Video | Visual Art and History
Explore the Mexican Muralist Movement and consider the role of art as social commentary using this video resource from Latino Public Broadcasting.

Rough Riders
Grads 6-12 | Video | Spanish American War
Use this resource to enhance lessons on the Spanish American War, Roosevelt’s Rough Riders, and New Mexico’s path toward statehood.

Baseball and Social Change: The Story of Roberto Clemente
Grades: 5-8 | Blended Lesson | Literacy Skill Development
Invite students to examine the relationship between culture and identity through the story of baseball legend Roberto Clemente.

Hispanic Exploration in America
Grades: 4-12 | Media Gallery | Teaching with Primary Resources
Gain insight into the Hispanic exploration, colonization, and conquests in North America by examining a collection of primary sources from the Library of Congress.
*If you like this resource – you might like this online course.

The Red Balloon
Grades K-2 | Lesson Plan, Games | Spanish Vocabulary
¡Pruébalo! Develop your students’ Spanish language skills using this collection of videos and interactive games from “Oh Noah!”

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Frontline: The Holocaust’s Last Living Survivors

In the most recent of his critically-lauded autobiographical films, Never Forget to Lie,  Marian Marzynski explores for the first time his own wartime childhood and the experiences of other child survivors.  The filmmaker teases out their feelings about Poland, the Catholic Church, and the ramifications of identities forged under circumstances where survival began with the directive “never forget to lie.”

Airing on WGBY on Tuesday, May 14 at 10:00pm, Never Forget to Lie chronicles the poignant, painful recollections of other child survivors. The film rescues haunting pieces of the past while exploring the conflicting feelings about national, cultural, and religious identity that mark many survivors.

Watch a preview, where you can also learn the latest about Marzynski’s documentary.  At the Frontline Teacher Center you’ll find new classroom activities with streaming video, downloadable lesson plans, and web-exclusive resources to accompany FRONTLINE programs in the classroom.

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Constitution USA

On Tuesdays on WGBY at 9:00pm, starting May 7,  you can breathe new life into the traditional civics lesson with Constitution USA with Peter Segal.  Traveling across the country on a Harley Davidson to find out where the U.S. Constitution lives, Peter Segal looks at how it works and doesn’t work, how it unites us as a nation, and how it has nearly torn us apart.  Watch a preview.

A vast digital library of classroom resources, PBS LearningMedia is continuing to add new content from Constitution USA.  Here are just a few highlights for grades 9-12:

Separation of Powers The framers of the Constitution feared too much centralized power, adopting the philosophy of divide and conquer.

Federalism Federalism is one of the most important and innovative concepts in the U.S. Constitution, although the word never appears there. Federalism is the sharing of power between national and state governments

Rights What is a right, and where does it come from? A right is a power or privilege that is recognized by tradition or law.

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Shakespeare Uncovered: O This Learning, What A Thing It Is!

Shakespeare Uncovered explores the complete plays of William Shakespeare. The PBS series looks at the stories that have shaped our cultural history: seeking out each play’s inspiration, finding the moments and places that set every scene, as well as  examining the words that gave life to Shakespeare’s world both past and present.

This PBS LearningMedia thematic collection — which adheres to national learning standards — contains video segments from the series, informational texts, discussion questions, and suggestions for extension activities to enhance your students’ reading, viewing, and appreciation of Shakespeare’s works.

Here’s a sampling of the series of videos available for grades 8-12:

The Use of Soliloquy helps students learn what a soliloquy is and how it is used to reveal character and advance plot in stories.

The Globe Theater reveals the origins, unique characteristics and specific challenges of the famous theater.

Gender Roles in Shakespeare examines how gender impacts the characters in Macbeth and The Tempest.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Side of Shakespeare’s Characters explores how characters struggle with moral and ethical dilemmas and includes examples from The Tempest, Hamlet, Macbeth and Henry IV, Part One.

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Program Feature: Australia’s First 4 Billion Years

Epic in scope, intimate in nature, this 4-part NOVA miniseries reveals the untold story of the Land Down Under. With high-energy host and geologist Richard Smith, meet titanic dinosaurs and giant kangaroos, sea monsters and prehistoric crustaceans, disappearing mountains and deadly asteroids.  Though it started last week, you still have a chance to catch up.  The series continues on Wednesday nights through May 1 from 9-10pm on WGBY.  Learn more.

Check out the preview below:

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Upcoming Program Feature: CONSTITUTION USA

Does the Constitution have what it takes to keep up with modern America? Join Peter Sagal, host of NPR’s Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! as he hits the road to find out. Traveling across the country by motorcycle, Sagal is in search of where the U.S. Constitution lives, how it works and how it doesn’t… how it unites us as a nation and how it has nearly torn us apart.

Check out a preview below.  In this clip, Yale professor Akhil Amar talks about why our Constitution has endured as long as it has. He believes this is because of its ability to be amended.

Constitution USA with Peter Sagal will air Tuesdays, May 7-28, 2013, at 9 pm on WGBY.

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Inspiring Interviews and Inspiring Educator Award Nominations

Especially since March is Women’s History, MAKERS.com  is a great site to visit.  Part of the unprecedented digital video and broadcast initiative responsible for the documentary “MAKERS: Women Who Make America,” which aired on WGBY in February, MAKERS.com has numerous interviews that the New York Times described as “often fascinating.”

Whether for you or students, these short, inspiring videos include each woman sharing the most meaningful advice she every received.  Among the many interviews are those of Marian Wright Edelman, founder of Children’s Defense Fund, which includes her experiences surrounding the death of MLKing, and Ophelia Neal, World Health Care Advocate and daughter of actress Partricia Neal and children’s author  Raul Dahl, discussing her mother’s strength during great adversity and her own work in Haiti.

And at MAKERS.com you can also help honor women who are innovating the classroom and developing the next generation of MAKERS by nominating a teacher for a $10,000 grant!

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Lesson Plan Feature: They’re Coming to America: Immigrants Past and Present

March’s celebration of Irish heritage be a good introduction to this lesson  where grades 5-7 explore the history of our nation of immigrants.  In the Introductory Activity, they identify their own and classmates’ countries of heritage.  Then they identify ethnic groups that migrated to the United States during various historic waves of immigration. In the Learning Activities, students watch video segments from Faces of America to develop an understanding of key motivations for immigration and explore online resources to examine specific immigrant experiences from various points in American history. The Culminating Activity asks students to use their historical knowledge and examination of case studies to develop a brief narrative summarizing the experiences, aspirations, and emotions of an hypothetical immigrant from the past or present.

In three 45-minute periods, students:

• Articulate that the United States is a nation of immigrants, and that America’s immigrant past is reflected in our language, culture, and traditions
• Identify their own countries of heritage on a world map
• Describe the historic waves of immigration to the U. S. and the countries related to those waves
• Explain motivations and rationale for immigration to the U. S.  at various points through its history
• Provide specific examples of historic and contemporary immigrant experiences
• Compare the experiences of historic and contemporary immigrants to the U. S.

The comprehensive lesson provides rich media resources, class materials, websites and more!

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Women’s History Month: PBS LearningMedia Digital Resources

Celebrate Women’s History Month by teaching students about the bold and adventuresome women that have helped to expand the role and perception of women throughout history with PBS LearningMedia resources such as:

Single Women Homesteaders
Grades 3-7 | Video | Trailblazers
Use this resource with students to highlight the role that single women played in the settlement of the Dakota Territory following the 1862 Homesteading Act.

Women’s History
Grades 4-13+ | Video | Icons and Symbols
Introduce students to the fascinating history behind women in the visual arts by investigating symbols from the Suffragist Movement.

Ella Es El Matador: The Struggle for Equal Opportunities for Women
Grades 6-12 | Video | Equality of Women
Invite students to consider the historic and modern-day barriers that impact women. Use this collection of videos to illustrate the story of two women in search of success in the male-dominated world of Spanish bullfighting.

19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
Grades 6-13+ | Document | Women’s History
Use this primary source document to support lessons on the 19th Amendment and women’s voting rights.

Empowerment
Grades 9-12 | Video | Women’s Rights Activists
Encourage students to consider the role that women play in the peace building process around the world

You can register today to tap into PBS LearningMedia’s full collection of interviews, documentaries, and character profiles!

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