KLRN strives to provide valuable educational content to every family in our viewing area, from great drama, world-class music, in-depth news, fascinating "how-to" programs and, best of all — non-violent educational programs for your children. During these times of uncertainty KLRN is adapting and creating new educational resources in an easy to follow format. We aim to provide the educational content and resources that support every family in our community.
During these daily blog posts, you will find that we will feature two PBS Kids programs and provide accompanying educational activities that will help extend the learning into your home. In addition to that we have added a new 4 PM time slot that aims at providing some content for older school age students. You will find resources tied to each of these programs aired daily with lessons from our PBS LearningMedia site.
We hope that this will provide your family a way to enjoy the PBS shows you love and extend the learning into your home.
All the best,
KLRN’s Education Team
Sesame Street
Thursday, April 9 at 10 AM
Elmo helps Professor Buck Awe teach a class of chickens using strategies he learned in preschool.
Fun activities
Books about Birthdays:
- Zin! Zin! A Violin by Lloyd Moss
- Little Critter: Just a Little Music by Mercer Mayer
- Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb by Al Perkins
- Infant: Self Awareness- Hang a mirror on the wall. Tap the mirror and say the baby's name. Over time the baby will begin to understand who the baby in the mirror is. For more information about self-awareness check out the Parenting Counts website here.
- Toddlers: Animal Charades. This is a fun activity to do with your toddlers. Draw or print out cards of their favorite zoo or farm animals. You can do this with whatever interests your child, dinosaurs, bugs, etc. Put those pictures in a brown bag or box. Now it's time to pretend! Have your child reach into the bag to choose one animal without showing you what it is. Instruct her to pretend to be that animal using sounds and movements—without saying the animal's name.
- Guess what animal she is pretending to be. Take turns and have fun!! Here is a great step by step handout and Charades activity idea.
- Preschool Activity: Seven Dancing Chickens Activity-It's fun to count things in different ways! Help your children make seven dancing chickens by tracing their hands seven times and decorating each one to look like a chicken. Go here for the directions for this activity.
- Activity for Everyone: Bird Feeder Bonanza- Invite a few feathered friends to dinner! Use recyclable items to create a decorative bird feeder. Encourage your child to notice the different kinds of birds that come to your bird feeder. What color are the birds you see? How big are they? Are the same kinds of birds coming every day? Talk together about where birds live, and what makes a happy home for a bird. Instructions here for making your birdfeeder.
- Grades Pre-K-3 Lesson:
Chickens hatch from eggs, but what about other animals? Explore our narrator’s book to learn about a variety of animals from spiders to platypuses that start their lives as eggs.
Cyberchase
Thursday, April 9 at 3:30 PM
When Matt, Jackie and Inez get stuck in the vortex of a cyberportal, it's up to Digit to rescue them. He just needs to find the U.V.O. - the Universal Vortex Opener. But all the portals are jammed, so how's he supposed to travel anywhere?
Assistance comes from a surprising source - Wicked! Digit and Wicked must work together to solve the puzzling clues that will reveal the location of the U.V.O. But they have to hurry - if the kids aren't rescued soon, they'll dematerialize! Can Digit and Wicked find the UVO in time? And is there even a fraction of truth to Wicked's claim she only wants to help out?
EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVE: When you share parts of a whole, it takes two numbers to tell the story - the top and bottom numbers of a fraction.
Infant/Toddler: One of the infant math games you can do with infants and toddlers is the identification of naturally occurring shapes in their environment. Think about your regular day and the math concepts that you see and explore each day: counting cars, pointing out the color of things, counting how many jumps you can do, pointing to different shapes around the house, or counting how many peas are on your plate.
Preschool:
- Video: Tyler Perry: A Big Plate of Math | Sesame Street - Tyler Perry and Elmo are searching Tyler's plate of tortilla chips for math. Exercise counting, sorting, and shape identification skills.
- Activity: Find Fractions Everywhere! Make fractions come to life in and around your home.
- Downloadable handout: Pizza Math with Elmo
- Virtual Game: Thirteen Ways of Looking as a Half
Math Talk: You can make any moment a math moment by using “math talk”—the language of math! Below you will find math words and phrases, organized by math concept, to use with young children ages 2–5 to help develop their math knowledge.
History Detectives: Tokyo Rose Recording
Thursday, April 9 at 4 PM
A recording may hold evidence used in the World War II treason trial of Iva Tugori, aka Tokyo Rose.
Grades 1-6
Mildred Fish-Harnack: Germany’s Secret Hero: Wisconsin Biographies
While facing one of the most horrifying armies the world had ever seen, Mildred Fish-Harnack chose to serve as a spy for the Allied forces and fight the Nazi regime in Germany. This Milwaukee native was such a threat to the Nazis that she became the only American woman to be executed by direct order from Adolf Hitler. She gave her life to save the lives of others and the Germany she loved.
This interactive resource is designed for use in elementary and middle schools, and for kids at home.
Grades 6-12
Women in Combat: Women in WW II
Discover the military contributions of women throughout World War II, with this video and accompanying artifacts from the three-part WOMEN IN WORLD WAR II mini-collection. Despite the traditional taboos regarding women in combat, women played significant roles in the war.
Russian snipers, British anti-aircraft operators, American pilots, and French Resistance workers were just some of the roles women filled to serve their countries and influence the outcome of the war. Narrated by historian Brenna Wynn Greer, the video uses primary source footage to illustrate the varied and often dangerous missions women accomplished.
Grades 6-12
World War 2: Activity Pack: History Detectives
These lesson plans are based on History Detectives episodes that examine how several objects played a key role in World War II, particularly the role of Japan and the Japanese in the war.
We hope you enjoyed some of these activities. If you follow KLRN on your facebook account please be sure to share your activities and use the #KLRNeducates and #KLRNLearnatHome tags.
Tune in tomorrow for more learning fun with your favorite PBS Kids programs.
Keep an eye out for upcoming events on KLRN’s event page such as:
- How to Use Learning Media at Home for Teachers & Parents
- Healthy Kids Project Training, Saturday, April 11 from 10-12 PM register here.
- NEW Play & Learn at Home Virtual Group funded by United Way of San Antonio
Parent Resources:
- Be A Champion Inc. is sponsoring Free Grab n Go Meals on Mondays starting April 13th from 1-3 PM. This is for children ages 18 and under in any district. Pick up at R3 Student Outreach: 2555 Castroville Rd., 78237. Packs include breakfast and lunch for the entire week.
- New Sesame Street site with Autism resources in English and Spanish. Resources highlight that all children are amazing in their own ways. And, at a time when many families are experiencing unprecedented uncertainty, the resources provide coping strategies for parents of children with autism, supporting them as they adjust to a “for-now” normal while still addressing their children’s unique needs.
- United Way of San Antonio various resources.
- Temporary emergency childcare assistance (up to 3 weeks) will be provided for licensed and registered childcare center or licensed/registered home care. Info here.
- Mental Health & Substance Use Resources from Texas Health and Human Services
Recursos en Espanol:
- Comida gratis para niños de 18 años y menor cada lunes, empezando el 13 de abril (de la 1 hasta las 3 de la tarde). Lugar: R3 Student Outreach: 2555 Castroville Rd., 78237.
- Recursos para ayudar a las Familias durante el COVID-19 de Fred Rogers Productions aqui.
- Como hablar con tus hijos sobre coronavirus
- Recursos de PreK-12 para Cierres de Emergencia de PBS LearningMedia
- Sesame Street el Autismo: Ver lo maravilloso en todos los niños.
- Recursos para Salud mental y consumo de sustancias de Texas Health and Human Services aqui.