Learning New Words While WordGirl Saves the Day!

Word Girl makes it fun to teach new words to preK-2 learners.  In this recently released DVD, Miss Power, along with her sidekick, Colonial Giggle Cheeks, is new in town.  Is she a friend or a foe?  She uses mean words against others and is certified bully!  Will Word Girl be able to defeat Miss Power without sinking to her level and save the city?

Bonus: “A World Without Wordgirl.”  The video introduces 16 new vocabulary words. You can borrow “The Rise of Miss Power” (I.D. 2255) for a month by clicking here .

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Lesson Plan Feature: Cycling Water Through the Environment

With the spring thaw, here’s a lesson  for grades 3-5 from PBS LearningMedia to teach students that water is a crucial ingredient for life on Earth.  They’ll also come to see that the water cycle is Earth’s natural mechanism for transporting, cleansing, and recycling water between the surface and the atmosphere. In this lesson, students recognize the different forms that water takes and learn about where it exists in the environment. Through class discussion and experiments, students model the water cycle and explore how it can be used to create fresh water.

Objectives

• Understand that water exists in the environment in different forms
• Identify the ways that water moves through the environment
• Recognize that most of Earth’s surface is covered by water but that only a small amount is fresh water
• Produce fresh water from salty water by distilling it

Resources include great images of Water Phases (for grades K-5) and an interactive on Global Water Distribution (for grades 3-12) as well as  many short, engaging videos.

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National Robotics Week: Lesson Plans and Other Resources

Celebrate National Robotics Week (April 6-14) by bringing the incredible world of robots, rovers, and bots into your classroom! Let PBS LearningMedia support your efforts with this collection of featured resources:

What is a Robot? (Lesson Plan, Grades 3–5) Customize this 3-part lesson plan to deepen students’ depth of knowledge as it relates to the world of robots.

Wearable Robots  (Video, Grades 5-13+)Although the idea of wearable robots is not new, students will be fascinated to see how far this technology has advanced.

 Newton’s Third Law:  Action-Reaction (Blended Lesson, Grades 7-8)  Astronauts constantly use robots and robotic tools to assist with tasks.  Find out how they use them in this online lesson for blended learning from the Walmart Middle School Literacy Initiative.

 Robot Race (Video, Grades 3-12) Follow 2 teams of engineers as they put their robots to the test in a 132- mile race through the Mohave Desert.

 The Intelligent Robot (Video, Grades 6-12)  Invite students to hear from NASA researchers as they discuss the Mars Rover and demonstrate its ability to learn.

RoboSnail (Video, Grades 6-12)  See how this MIT students used a snail’s movement as inspiration for a new machine.

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Native Americans: Rural Poverty & Cultural Heritage

There’s still time to watch the second of a two-part series, Kind Hearted Woman on WGBY tonight, April 2, at 9:00pm.  This unforgettable portrait follows Robin Charboneau, a 32-year-old divorced single mother and Oglala Sioux woman living on North Dakota’s Spirit Lake Reservation.  Watch a Preview.

Here are other classroom resources on Native Americans from  PBS LearningMedia:

Miss Navajo  (Grades 6-12) This video segment from Independent Lens documents a young woman’s experiences as she competes in the Miss Navajo Nation beauty pageant.  Instead of concentrating on a young woman’s outer beauty, the pageant’s focus is on her knowledge and understanding of Navajo culture and her ability to spread this culture as an ambassador of the Navajo Nation.

La’ona DeWilde:  Environmental Biologist (Grades 5-12) This video profiles an Athabascan and doctoral student who chose her career because of her traditional belief in respecting animals and caring for the environment. Her work involves helping local villagers record observations that can be used collaboratively with Western science to help solve problems that affect Alaska Native peoples.

Native American Culture: Little Deer and Mother Earth Marilou Awiakta, of Cherokee/Appalachian heritage, tells a traditional Cherokee story in which humans are killing too many of their animal relatives, threatening the delicate balance of nature. Little Deer leads the animals in taking action, teaching the lesson that people should take “only what you need with respect and gratitude.”  Support materials include Native American Culture: Cherokee People and Their Stories Lesson Plan (Grades 3-4).

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Video Lending Library Feature: Climate of Doubt

This insightful Frontline DVD titled Climate of Doubt, explores the impact of politics on the subject of global warming and climate change. The video goes inside the organizations that fought the scientific establishment, environmental groups, and lawmakers to shift the direction of debate on climate issues and redefine the politics of global warming. Borrow this DVD (I.D. 2352) for a month by clicking here.

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Four Classic English Stories on DVD

A recent addition to our Video Lending Library is sure to be of interest to English teachers. The Classic English Literature collection (volume 1) contains four memorable stories: Great Expectations, by Dickens; Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte; Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte, and Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austin. The album also contains a collection of memorabilia about the authors, including documents and photographs. Borrow this Masterpiece Classic album, I.D. 2365, by clicking here. 

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New DVD Uses Stunning Graphics to Teach Math Priniciples

Explore the boundless world of math and numbers in this 20-part educational series that introduces key mathematical principles, such as the mystery of pi, the mechanics of equations, factorization, and introductory geometry. With engaging graphic animation and relatable, real-life examples, Mathematica is a valuable learning tool that makes math approachable and bolsters comprehension of a wide range of topics. The video title is Mathematica, and the I.D. number is 2359.  Our online ordering system is working again, so click here to borrow the video for a month.

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Video Lending Library back in operation

Good News — WGBY’s video lending library ordering system is back in operation, thanks to the folks in our IT department. You can now order videos following the instructions on the website. We apologize for any inconvenience our temporary ordering process created.

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Video Lending Library Feature: A New Look at Some American Radicals

They were called radicals, agitators, troublemakers, liberators. They tore apart the nation in order to create a more perfect union. Here is a docu-drama that intertwines stories of Fredrick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, Anlelina Grimke, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and John Brown. Borrow The Abolitionists (I.D. 2361; 180 minutes) for a month. Our website ordering system is currently not working, by you can click here and tell librarian Bernie Michaels your name, school, and the title of the video you wish to borrow.

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Video Lending Library Feature: A New Look at an Old River

Sir Trevor McDonald takes an unforgettable adventure along the historic and epic Mississippi river. Starting at the Gulf of Mexico, Sir Trevor’s journey leads him to encounter a dazzling array of characters and stunning locations. You will learn how the river has made the U.S. one of the greatest food producers in the world,  and how “Ole Miss” brought together the different music styles and influences that lead to the birth of  rock n’ roll. The video shows that the Mississippi is still influencing lives and culture today.

While our online library order system is down, email your request for this video directly to the librarian: bmichaels@wgby.org. Include your name, your school and the video title.

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