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PBS Educator Resources | March

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by
Ian Cruz
• Published on
Black and white photo of eight young African American women seated and gathered around a sofa.
KLRN Education

Dear Friends,

This month is Women’s History Month. Learn about teaching resources for all ages and how to align them to this month’s featured on-air programs. 

We invite you to join us for our March 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: 

  • Thursday, March 2 from 6pm-7pm: Educator Session: Change the World: Women’s History with KLRN and New Mexico PBS |Register here
     
  • Tuesday, March 7 from 6pm-8pm: KLRN & The Healthy Kids Project Healthy Choices Every Day | Register here
     
  • Wednesday, March 22 from 6pm-7pm: Learn the Signs and Milestones: Act Early from The Center for Disease Control and Prevention | Register here
     

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

Additionally, Go Public has created an 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: 

Becoming Frederick Douglass Discover how a man born into slavery became one of the most influential voices for democracy in American history. Oscar nominated filmmaker Stanley Nelson explores the role Douglass played in securing the right to freedom for African Americans. Find more resources from Becoming Frederick Douglass on PBS Learning Media (Grades 6-12).
 

Beyond the Powder: The Legacy of the First Women's Cross-Country Air Race is a documentary film that follows the female pilots of the 2014 Air Race Classic racers as they make their way across the country, while telling the story of the first women's cross-country air race of 1929, also known as the Powder Puff Derby. The first Women's Air Derby in 1929-which was comprised of 20 women, including Amelia Earhart-was flown from Santa Monica to the finish line in Cleveland, kicking off the National Air Races. The country watched as these brave women made history flying cross-country, breaking into a competition that was thought to be for men only. They encountered sabotage, death, and all the difficulties of flying at the dawn of aviation. Today the Powder Puff Derby continues as the Air Race Classic, with modern day racers carrying out the legacy and the adventurous spirit of the original racers. Showing that they were more than just their make-up, the original Derby contestants have inspired those flying today to truly push beyond the powder. Learn more about female aviators on PBS Learning Media here: Female Pioneers of the Sky | Know Ohio (Grades 3-8), Bessie Coleman | Unladylike2020 (Grades 6-12), and Rachel Obermoller – Pilot / Aviation Representative (Grades 3-12).
 

American Experience: Sandra Day O'Connor: The First: When Ronald Reagan nominated Sandra Day O'Connor as the Supreme Court's first female justice in 1981, the announcement dominated the news. Time Magazine's cover proclaimed "Justice At Last," and she received unanimous Senate approval. Born in 1930 in El Paso, Texas, O'Connor grew up on a cattle ranch in Arizona in an era when women were expected to become homemakers. After graduating near the top of her class at Stanford Law School, she could not convince a single law firm to interview her, so she turned to volunteer work and public service. A Republican, she served two terms in the Arizona state senate, then became a judge on the state court of appeals. During her 25 years on the Supreme Court, O'Connor was the critical swing vote on cases involving some of the 20th century's most controversial issues, including abortion, affirmative action - and she was the tiebreaker on Bush v. Gore. Forty years after her confirmation, this biography recounts the life of a pioneering woman who both reflected and shaped an era. Find more resources on How Politics and Personality Propelled the First Female Justice to the Supreme Court | Sandra Day O’Connor: The First (Grades 9-12)
 

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

IDRA SEEN: Intercultural Development Research Association Southern Education Equity Network: https://idraseen.org/