Skip to main content

PBS Educator Resources | January 2023

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

Dear Friends,

Happy New Year! Let’s celebrate new beginnings, try new things, embrace change, and welcome compassion for others as well as ourselves. On PBS Learning Media, there is an excellent blog post titled “An Ode to Educator Self Care” by Shelly Bautista, which you can read here. In her blog post, Shelly writes: “Many teachers feel they are experiencing challenges within their educator circles, but our students are also facing similar challenges. Rather than thinking beyond ourselves, we may want to consider including ourselves in the narrative. We can see that as a community we are all experiencing change and embrace the practice of having empathy for one another’s situations. Having grace for others starts with the practice of having grace for ourselves.” 

Although we say it often, it bears repeating that the work you do is so important, and very much appreciated. You take care of so much for so many people. You show care and compassion for the students and families you serve; please remember to show yourself kindness, too. There is no one just like you, and you really make the world a nicer place. 

In KLRN, both on air and online, you can always find an excellent variety of outstanding programs both on-air and online. Check out these amazing programs in 9.1 this month: Finding Your Roots Season 9 (available weekly beginning January 3rd), All Creatures Great and Small: The Next Chapter (available to binge on January 8), American Experience: Zora Neale Hurston: Claiming a Space (available January 17th),  Rosie's Rules, Sesame Street, Donkey Hodie, and Alma's Way

We invite you to join us for our January educator sessions which, as always, are free of charge and offer continuing education credit.  On Tuesday, 01/10 from 6pm-7pm: KLRN Educator Session: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Civil Rights Teaching Resources with PBS Learning Media and on Thursday, 01/19 from 6pm-8pm, please join us for the KLRN Educator Session: The Healthy Kids Project: Spring Gardening Tips for Texas with Special Guest Angela McDermott from the San Antonio Food Bank! 

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.

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 highlighted PBS Learning Media collections and resources we recommend this month are: 

 

Zora Neale Hurston | Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum (Grades K-2) Learn about Zora Neale Hurston with this video clip, printable biosketch reader, and support materials. Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum is a PBS KIDS show based on the popular book series, Ordinary People Change the World, by Brad Meltzer and Christopher Eliopoulos. The show follows the adventures of Xavier Riddle, his sister Yadina, and their friend Brad as they travel back in time to meet real life historical figures when they were kids. IMPORTANT NOTE: As a supplemental resource, this collection is not designed to facilitate dialog on the merits or virtue of all of a historical figure’s actions and behaviors. The focus is on specific positive behaviors the person demonstrated, rather than all aspects of who they were/are. Decisions about how and when to engage students in these important conversations are at the discretion of teachers, families, and school administrators at the local level. Select the biosketches that fit best with your classroom curricula and learning objectives.

Resurrecting Zora Neale Hurston | American Masters: Alice Walker (Grades 9-12) Alice Walker discusses how Zora Neale Hurston’s ability to portray black people as “undiminished human beings” shaped her as a writer. This is evident in The Color Purple which, like Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, blends the lyrical speech of the South with other kinds of prose.

SciGirls | Horsing Around 01: Mentor Moment (Grades 3-8) Seeing women who have succeeded in STEM helps inspire and motivate girls, especially when they can relate to these mentors as people with lives outside of the lab. The SciGirls talk with their mentor about how her interest in horses when she was their age led to her career as a veterinarian.

 

Following a Bedtime Routine | Rosie's Rules (PreK-2) Rosie’s Rules is a new PBS KIDS® animated comedy series for preschoolers starring 5-year-old Rosie Fuentes, a Mexican-American girl just beginning to learn about the wow-mazing world. Rosie’s Rules aims to teach children concrete social studies lessons about how a community works, helping them develop an awareness of themselves as individuals and as part of a broader society. Doing things in the right order (a routine) can help achieve a goal. Rosie realizes that to take Iggy to bed she has to follow a routine, and that it is important to follow the right order to complete the routine.

Sesame Street (Grades PreK-2) Do you know how to get to Sesame Street? This collection is designed to engage preschoolers in everyday learning by teaching core skills in Math, Literacy, STEM, and Social and Emotional Development. Here you'll find hundreds of videos, games, and printable materials to help you to excite even the youngest learners. Plus, check out more from Sesame Street, including cross-platform educational games spanning wide-ranging curricular topics and STEM educator guides!

Zoo Veterinarian | Great Job! (Grades 6-8) Dr. Selig talks about his job as a zoo veterinarian, his responsibilities and duties, as well as the training and formal education he received at the Ohio State University. We will follow the doctor throughout a typical day as he works with both keepers and veterinary assistants to treat the hundreds of species in his care. Two of the highlights of his round will be a routine checkup of a sloth and a physical examination of an elephant. Wait a minute... science, technology, engineering and math... at the zoo? You bet!

James Herriot: Masterpiece: Literary Drama (Grades 6-12) Explore the theme of modernity in James Herriot’s All Creatures Great and Small. In these video excerpts from the 2021 MASTERPIECE film adaptation, the new veterinarian confronts distrust and suspicion from farmers when he gently dismisses their folk remedies and introduces a modern treatment for their cow. Modernity is a recurring theme of Wight’s work. 

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