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PBS Educator Resources | February 2023

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by
Ian Cruz
• Published on • Last modified on
KLRN Education

Dear Friends,

You are special. You show kindness and love through the work that you do, your dedication, and your compassion. 

This month is Black History Month. In this post, you will find some excellent resources for teaching about African American history not only this month, but every day. 

We invite you to join us for our February educator sessions which, as always, are free of charge and offer continuing education credit. Please know that if you are not a classroom educator, but would like to join the educator sessions, you are more than welcome to join us. Here are the upcoming virtual sessions and links to register: 

 

Thank you to Firstmark Credit Union for their generous support of educator training sessions. Please learn more about these upcoming sessions and more events at klrn.org/events.

KLRN and Go Public are teaming up to share Kindergarten tips, and elementary schools are hosting Kindergarten Round Ups - these events prepare parents and students for school in the fall! Explore Kinder Round Ups and student enrollment information. To learn more, visit the kindergarten near you, ask other parents about their experience with the school, and check your district’s website for enrollment information. Go Public has created a wonderfully user-friendly Education Timeline with tips for Pre-K through 12th grade - it even includes helpful tips for planning for college. Please visit Go Public’s page to learn more and to watch a helpful video on how to navigate the timeline.

On PBS Learning Media, you can find thousands of high-quality educational resources for all grade levels for free! Setting up an account is easy to do (and completely free!) Visit https://klrn.pbslearningmedia.org/ to sign up today to get access to any of the over 30,000 state standards-aligned educational resources for free! Here is a short video tutorial that explains how in a few quick steps, you can create an account and create class rosters, too. Some of the outstanding PBS shows featured this month, along with engaging PBS Learning Media collections and resources we recommend are: 

Finding Your Roots Join Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. to uncover the surprising ancestral stories of 28 cultural trailblazers with fascinating histories. The series ends with an exploration of how science and history can inspire the next generation. Find more Finding Your Roots Resources on PBS Learning Media.

Making Black America This four-hour series, hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., introduces viewers to a world that showcases Black people's ability to collectively prosper, defy white supremacy and define Blackness in ways that transformed America itself. Find more excellent resources from Making Black America: Through the Grapevine on PBS Learning Media

Work It Out Wombats Work It Out Wombats! follows a playful trio of marsupial siblings -- Malik, Zadie, and Zeke -- who live with their grandmother (named Super!) in a fantastical treehouse apartment complex. The Treeborhood is home to a diverse and quirky community of neighbors who just happen to be wombats, snakes, moose, kangaroos, iguanas, fish, tarsiers, and eagles! Each day drops a new challenge into the Wombats' laps, requiring them to find, debug, fix, order (then re-order) -- and create, test, and re-create when things don't go according to plan. But thanks to their creativity and collaborative spirit, their sense of family, and the role they play within the larger Treeborhood community -- as problem-solvers, friends, and neighbors -- the Wombats always win the day. With an educational focus on computational thinking, Work It Out Wombats! introduces preschoolers to a way of thinking that enables them to solve problems,express themselves, and accomplish tasks using the practices, processes, and ideas at the core of computer science, laying important groundwork for success in school and life. There is even a fun Wild Kratts Resource About Wombats Resource on PBS Learning Media!

Donkey Hodie Donkey Hodie follows the adventures of a little yellow donkey who dreams big. With perseverance, great pals, and a laugh along the way, there's nothing she can't do! Hee-haw! Check out Donkey Hodie Resources on PBS Learning Media!

KLRN’s The Healthy Kids Project (Grades PreK-2): The Healthy Kids Project uses song, movement, and animation in ten engaging lessons that support healthy choices and attitudes--teaching not only successful actions (limiting refined sugar, choosing water as a beverage, choosing fresh foods over processed foods), but also successful strategies (valuing the body, not letting past mistakes impede future success, taking one step at a time toward a goal, helping others to make good choices.) Each lesson contains a 60-second video and is accompanied by an overview, lesson plan and student activity. It’s a turnkey kit for teachers to impart critical life lessons about health, without taking time away from core subjects.

Watt Watchers (All Grades): Watt Watchers of Texas is a state-sponsored STEM program to help boost energy literacy for K-12 students and help schools save money by saving energy. Through the program, students, teachers, and families will have access to energy saving tips, activities, and lessons. Launched in 1985, Watt Watchers of Texas is an updated resource that builds upon the original beloved program and provides a modern look at energy, sustainability and conservation.

As always, at the bottom of this post, you will find a list of links of organizations, both local and nationally, that provide mental health resources. Please know that you are important and you make the world a nicer place. Thank you for being you. Reach out to us anytime at education@klrn.org.

With appreciation,

KLRN Education Team

 

Mental Health Resources

If you or someone you know is hurting or in crisis, call or text 988 or visit 988lifeline.org to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline