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Summer Fun with KLRN – Aug. 24 to Aug. 28, 2020

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by
Melissa Galvan
• Published on
PBS Summertime is Learning Time
KLRN Education

Dear Families,

With the new school year starting, we want to thank you for your dedication and resilience during this very unpredictable year. You have sought out educational resources for your students and family members. You have attended trainings to enhance your own learning. Thank you for showing your support and staying engaged. KLRN is committed to all of you -the families, the educators, the students, now and when things get better too.

We are including some great resources to get ready for school. The Getting Ready for School Booklet (available in English and Spanish) is fun and educational. This week, our focus is on literacy. Here is a collection of the unique and wonderful works of Ashley Bryan.

We will continue to provide quality educational resources related to STEM, Art, Literature, Physical Health, Emotional Well Being, and more.

You’ve got this, and you’ve got us. Please stay safe and well. Reach out to us anytime at education@klrn.org.

With appreciation,
KLRN Education Team
education@klrn.org

Articles & Resources for Parents

Here are fun learning activities around the theme of Back to school for your child of any age!

Infant Toddler Activities

  • Schooltime
    When you go back to school, there may be some things that are the SAME, NEW, or DIFFERENT from before. You may have questions about school or about things that are changing. Talk with your family about your questions and about your feelings.
  • Milk Carton School Bus
    Recycle an old milk carton to make this toy bus. This craft is great for first-time bus riders!
  • Plan Ahead With a Refrigerator Calendar
    Executive functioning is a set of processes that allow us to manage ourselves to achieve a goal. This includes the ability to pay attention, organize activities and stay focused to complete tasks. Whether to finish homework or to complete a chore, these skills prepare children to flourish down the road.

Preschool Activities

  • Create a Kid’s Calendar
    Waiting for big events like birthdays, holidays, or the start of school are great opportunities for your child to learn to keep track of days and months. These activities will help your child become familiar with using a calendar.
  • Make a Bedtime Routine Book
    Routines help children know what to expect and what is expected of them, which is why they help children feel more secure and comfortable. If going to bed is difficult for your child, creating a routine together and making a "My Bedtime Routine" book can help give them some control over the situation.
  • Sesame Street Pencil Toppers
    Make the back-to-school season a bit more fun with DIY Sesame Street pencil toppers.

Elementary Age Activities

  • Blue Ribbon Readers: The Questioning Cube Game
    The Questioning Cube Game is part of WPSU’s Blue Ribbon Readers, a collection of seven interactive games designed to help elementary school students gain reading comprehension competences. In the game, students practice asking questions about short stories or passages of expository prose. The practice of generating and answering their own questions before, during and after reading, helps students actively create solid mental connections.
  • Patricia & Frederick McKissack: No Shortage of Ideas
    Patricia and Frederick McKissack are a writing duo that got their start when they decided they wanted to do something about the lack of children's stories about African Americans. In this interview, the McKissacks talk about finding inspiration for their writing, their favorite books, their commitment to writing African American stories, and the power of reading to children. Watch the interview, view the interview transcript, read a short biography on Patricia and Frederick McKissack, or see a selected list of their children's books.
  • Who’s Talking?!
    Identify who is telling the story with video books that teach characters, narrator and point of view. Watch for a mole, a baby bird, and a girl with a cool idea. Practice asking over and over WHO'S TALKING? to help gain understanding.

Middle and High School Student Activities

  • The Importance of Research
    KET producer, writer, and host Renee Shaw talks about the importance of research in preparing for an interview.
  • Meet Willa Cather
    This video from the American Masters film Willa Cather: The Road Is Allintroduces students to the novelist and her work. Cather wrote some of the most unforgettable prose of the 20th century and won various awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
  • Hamilton’s America: Understanding the Burr-Hamilton Duel
    Follow the events that led to the famous duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton in 1804 in this video from GREAT PERFORMANCES: “Hamilton’s America.” While dueling was made illegal in America in the 18thcentury, these “affairs of honor” still occurred occasionally. The support materials below the video include a close reading of the essay “Understanding the Burr-Hamilton Duel” By Joanne Freeman.
  • The Call of the Wild
    Enduring love is the underlying theme of Jack London's story of a dog, Buck, who is kidnapped and forced to pull a sled in Alaska, and who is ultimately saved by the trapper John Thornton. Chelsea Clinton speaks of her fondness for the book, which she first read in junior high school; her perspective on the novel was different from the boys, who saw it as strictly an adventure tale.
  • Heroes and Hope in Frank Herbert’s Dune
    In this excerpt from The Great American Read, Wil Wheaton describes his relationship with Frank Herbert’s Dune. The best-selling science fiction novel chronicles the tension between good and evil, and the fight over a limited natural resource —"the spice."

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 next week for more learning fun with your favorite PBS Kids programs.