Empowering Children: Independent Lens’ The Revolutionary Optimists

On Monday, June 17, at 10pm WGBY airs the documentary The Revolutionary Optimists about some of the poorest slums of Kolkata.  Amlan Ganguly, a lawyer-turned social entrepreneur, sows hope in the poorest neighborhoods of Calcutta by empowering children to become leaders in improving health and transforming their communities.  Preview.

Inspired by The Revolutionary Optimists, which profiles “The Daredevils” in one of Kolkata’s most notorious squatters’ colonies, Map Your World is a multi-platform project in development that puts the power of new technologies into the hands of young change agents, enabling them to map, track, and improve the health of their own communities and share their stories.

When you search subjects like  “children in poverty” on PBS LearningMedia, you’ll find hundreds of resources.  Here are just a few:

Protect Your Health and Environment  (Grades 3 – 4) In this media-rich self-paced lesson, students explore health hazards in their environment and learn how to make their environment safer.

Poverty (Grades: 6-12) shows children in unclean conditions and asks students to write a description of what they think life is like for these children.

Teens Fight for Toxic Waste Cleanup (Grades 9-12) Meet a student who successfully lobbied her state legislature about waste sites in her neighborhood in this video adapted from Earth Island Institute’s New Leaders Initiative.

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“Imagine That – Enjoying Math?”

These are the words of 7^th grade math teacher, Bonnie Wareham, when describing her students almost unanimous agreement about enjoying her flipped classroom  iPad project, for which she received a 2012 Teacher Innovator Award . The annual Teacher Innovation Awards are sponsored by PBS LearningMedia and the Henry Ford.

For this pilot project, she and the class designed “Ladder of Success” together as “ a way for students to demonstrate their understanding of Common Core standards.”  She describes the program as a “joy” that allowed her to immediately review students work and give feedback, which then provided them with a process for  reviewing and revising their work before returning it for a final assessment.

You can read how this method transformed the classroom environment where students have endless options such as creating movies, picture collages, puppet shows, snapshots of written work and cartoons.  In addition to — and more important than – their  higher grades, Bonnie shares how  “students are able to explain their understanding in math language, work collaboratively, and are confident in their abilities. They are creating their own situations and then solving them.”

What do you think about flipped learning or this “Ladder of Success” pilot project?  What challenges and/or successes have you had teaching math?

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LESSON PLAN FEATURE: Story Telling – Writers’ Workshop

Storytelling, an ancient art form, is what humans do best.  One of four lessons for grades 6-8, this lesson has students draw on their understanding of different types of narratives to inspire and enrich their own storytelling. It is based on three other lessons that introduce students to narrative traditions and storytelling from Alaska, Hawaii and other cultures through work with varied narratives, objects, and performance.

One theme woven through these lessons is the diverse nature and form of narratives. All of the narratives presented draw on the great range and variety of stories related to cultural resources available to teacher and student alike. Remember that although the term “narrative” is frequently applied to written texts and oral stories, narratives may also be inherent in a painting, a dance, an object, or an historical record.

Objectives

• Create original stories; share them with others orally and in writing, employing language arts practices such as pre-writing (gathering and organizing experiences), drafting, revising collaboratively, polishing and presenting work
• Experience stories from a range of cultures and recognize both the commonalities and distinctions in styles and motifs of storytelling
• Begin to identify key aspects of narratives, such as character, setting, action, conflict, and resolution
• Begin to gain understanding of audience, author, and viewpoint in the context of narrative.

To check out more storytelling lesson plans with Common Core State Standards go to:

Storytelling: Oral Traditions Lesson Plan

Storytelling: Tales of Everyday Life Lesson Plan

Storytelling: Performance and Art Lesson Plan

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NOVA Special Report: Manhunt – Boston Bombers” + Classroom Resources

This Wednesday, May 29, WGBY airs A NOVA Night of Special Reports: “Manhunt- Boston Bombers” at 9:00pm & “Oklahoma’s Deadliest Tornadoes” at 10:00pm.  Watch preview. 

 On May 24 we posted some of the teacher resources available to you for “Oklahaoma’s Deadliest Tornadoes.”  (See previous post below.)  The special new one-hour NOVA documentary “Manhunt-Boston Bombers,” follows quickly unfolding events, step by step, and examines the role of modern technology—combined with old-fashioned detective work in cracking the case. And in a special collaboration, producer Miles O’Brien is also re­porting a special broadcast that same evening prior to NOVA for PBS NewsHour.

Searching under “terrorism” at PBS LearningMedia, you’ll find various classroom resources, such as the lesson plan Breaking Up is Hard to Do for grades 9-12 about Russian/Chechen relations with the focus on nationalism, separatism, and terrorism.  You’ll also want to check out PBS NewsHour Extra, news for kids and resources for teachers, including free lesson plans, news videos, articles and original student-generated reports.

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Featured Lesson: Parents, Teens and Texting

Texting is a part of daily life for most teens.  In this PBS LearningMedia online lesson for blended learning, students watch videos by teens about texting.  They then evaluate statistics about texting, and use these data to form and support their opinions.  This lesson covers a topic that is engaging to students while covering some key literacy strategies: comparing and contrasting information; determining important information; understanding fact vs. opinion; and making inferences. 

To launch this lesson, determine what students already know about texting and about the debate between parents and teens over how much texting is too much. The Teacher’s Guide accompanying this lesson provides specific questions you can use to start the discussion.  Assignments in which students write opinion pieces supported by facts from the video, charts, and lesson text are an important component of this lesson.

Visit the lesson  from the Walmart Middle School Literacy Initiative to learn more.

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Featured Resources: The Science of Movement and Importance of Exercise

Springtime offers the perfect backdrop for promoting physical activity and engaging students in immersive learning experiences. Use these resources from PBS LearningMedia to explore the science of movement and to highlight the importance of exercise in their daily lives:

Mixie’s Boogie Buffet  (Grades 1-4) What better way to kick off a lesson on exercise than to get students up on their feet with this “Fizzy’s Lunch Lab” interactive?

Power Your Body with Exercise  (Grades 5-8) Invite students to examine the changes that occur in the body in response to physical activity.

Increasing Physical Activity in Schools (Grades 13+)  High levels of physical activity  support learning on-task behavior and the development of life-long wellness.  Learn how to increase the activity level at your school using this self-paced lesson.

Titanium Chairs & Cheetah Legs  (Grades 6-12) Introduce students to the specialized wheelchairs, prosthetics and other high-tech tools that allow Paralympic athletes to compete.

The Truth About Exercise (Grades 6-13+) An obesity expert proposes that the best way to lose weight and improve health is to increase your “NEAT” level.  Ask students to investigate his theory.

PBS LearningMedia is honored to be counted among this year’s recipients of the 2013 SIIA CODiE Award for both “Best Education Reference Solution” and “Best K12 Solution” in the Education Technology category!

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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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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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Arthur Stands Up To Bullying

ARTHUR, television’s longest-running children’s animated series, kicks off its spring season with a week of all-new episodes, including two devoted to the issue of bullying. The week begins with “The Last Tough Customer” on Monday, May 6. In this episode, the Tough Customers realize it’s time to quit bullying and set out to find a new hobby – but can Molly ever truly change her ways? Watch a sneak preview!

Then on Friday, May 10, in “So Funny I Forgot to Laugh,” Arthur thinks his jokes about Sue Ellen’s new sweater are all in good fun, but Sue Ellen’s feelings are hurt. Has Arthur become…a bully?

Visit ARTHUR’S parents and teachers’ site for more resources, including lesson plans like Arthur’s World Neighborhood with activities, resources, and tips to help kids explore cultural diversity within their own community and around the world. The curriculum was developed especially for students in grades 2-3 but activities can easily be adapted for younger or older audiences.

To also help raise students’ awareness on bullying and tolerance, you’ll find preK-3 resources on bullying as well as those for older grades at PBS LearningMedia.

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New Content Collection from PBS LearningMedia: Think Garden!

With red buds popping, this season can be a great time to arouse students’ curiosity about garden miracles, and Think Garden – one of PBS LearningMedia’s great new content collections  – has just the video resources you’ll need!  This engaging video collection produced by KET (Kentucky Educational Television) helps teach elementary students about the art and science of growing food, with an emphasis on biological and environmental concepts. It also addresses topics related to nutrition and economics.

One of the videos, Think Garden:  Cool Crops explores the possibilities of gardening in the cooler temperatures of spring and fall. Students learn about which vegetables like cool weather and what techniques help plants, like raised beds and hoop houses, grow in these conditions.  They’ll also find out why cool crops are ideal for school gardens.

We hope you like the new look and feel of the PBS LearningMedia site.  Try viewing it on your tablet or phone for an optimized experience.

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