Teaching Channel News for December 2012

This month, Teaching Channel Presents and PBS LearningMedia bring you more new and innovative ideas for inquiry-based teaching, integrating the arts, and meeting the Common Core literacy standards. Here are December topics and themes:

Week 1:  Connecting the Arts to Academics [Episode #210:  Dec. 2-8] — See a wide range of lessons from first grade to high school where students learn about math, science, discipline, leadership, and foreign languages through the arts. Preview.  For more arts resources,  check out these media-rich resources from PBS LearningMedia:  Collective Improvisation  and WPA Murals.

Week 2:  High School English [Episode #211:  Dec. 9-15] — See how teachers are working to implement the Common Core State Standards. Preview.   PBS Learning Media resources include:  Media Arts: Critical Viewing: Cigarette Ads and The People, Yes.

Week 3:  Season One Rebroadcast [Dec. 16-22] — See highlights of videos that cover topics incluidng defining bullying for parents, students who are tried in a youth court by peers, and helpful leson plan ideas for new and veteran teachers.  From PBS LearningMedia:  A Day in the Life and Stop Bullying. . .Take a Stand.

Week 4:  Season One Rebroadcast [Dec. 28-29] See how two teachers create amazing classroom environments for their students.  PBS Learning Media resources include:  Critical Thinking and Problem Solving in Advanced Manufacturing and Center for Sustainability at Penn State University Tour.

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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.

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