Webresource: PBS Newsletter

PBS Teachers Newsletter

November 11-17, 2007

Welcome to the PBS Teachers Newsletter, the weekly newsletter from PBS designed specifically for PreK-12 educators.

Program Times listed are for KNME-TV/Channel 5.

PBS IN EDUCATION
WETA Learning Media Launches New Service for Adolescent Readers
Online
Grades: 3-5, 6-8, 9-12
AdLit.org, a new website that targets educators and parents of adolescent readers, launches this month from WETA Learning Media. Building on the success of sister sites ReadingRockets.org, ColorinColorado.org and LDOnLine.org, the new service focuses on helping students from fourth through 12th grades to read and write better. AdLit.org offers research-based articles, instructional material for classroom teachers, tips for parents, book recommendations, exclusive interviews with top authors, and a free, monthly e-newsletter called "Word Up!" The project is funded by Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Ann B. and Thomas L. Friedman Family Foundation.

A Letter from NewsHour Teacher Center
Online
Grades: 6-8, 9-12
"Use the News" is the goal for our aspiring NewsHour Teacher Center, an exciting initiative being developed by NewsHour Extra, the student and teacher Web site for the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. Our new online Teacher Center will encourage and facilitate efforts to "use the news" in middle and high-school classrooms.
I'm a longtime educator, parent of two college students, and experienced classroom teacher. I want to start a conversation with teachers like you, who want to help our profession make easier or better classroom use of current events, civic affairs, or issues and news from around the world. Please consider this email as your invitation to participate in our Teacher Center development process. You are the best judge of what works or doesn't work in your classroom, of what opportunities or information you might find most helpful at our online Teacher Center. To join or observe the Teacher Center development process, simply email me at teachercenter@newshour.org. I will reply to your email with a few initial Teacher Center plans for your comment or feedback. Your email address will be used for the sole purpose of my direct communication with you; it will not be disclosed to others. You can remove it from our list by simply asking me.
School teachers work hard to produce well informed and responsible citizens. We know this is an enormously complicated process, far beyond the scope of any single teacher or single year's course of study. Despite or perhaps because of this, I'm urging you to take a small step in a helpful direction, and join us at the NewsHour Teacher Center.
I'm hoping to hear from you!
Brian McLaughlin
Online NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
PBS NewsHour Extra for teachers and students
www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/

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THE ARTS

Art in the Twenty-First Century: Ecology
On-Air & Online
Grade Range: 9-12

This program introduces viewers to four artists whose works pose questions about the relationships between nature and culture: Ursula von Rydingsvard, Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle, Robert Adams and Mark Dion. (CC, Stereo, 1 year)
http://www.pbs.org/art21
OPB: ARTbeat at School
Station
Grade Range: 6-8, 9-12

OPB has brought together this collection of over 100 video profiles, selected from the "Oregon Art Beat" television series, featuring some of the best musicians, dancers, writers, photographers, and visual artists in the state. For each profile, a team of curriculum writers has developed arts-focused lesson plans with related activities, resources and projects to help teachers bring the arts into their classrooms and get kids engaged in learning and creating.
http://www.opb.org/education/atschool/
KERA: Matisse and Picasso: Can a Poem Interpret a Painting?
Lesson Plan
Grade Range: 3-5, 6-8

Create a diamante (diamond) poem that describes and interprets a painting by either Matisse or Picasso. Use the structure of the poem to help you select nouns, adjectives, adverbs and verbs that best fit your interpretation of the artwork's meaning.
http://www.matisse-picasso.com/education/
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HEALTH AND FITNESS

Maya and Miguel: Recipe for Happiness
Offline Activity/Project
Grade Range: K-2, 3-5

Identify recipe ingredients and follow a series of steps to complete a recipe. Work cooperatively using conversational language to prepare authentic cultural foods.
http://pbskids.org/mayaandmiguel/english/parentsteachers/activities/recipes.html
Independent Lens: Sumo East and West: Sumo Style
Interactive/Online Activity
Grade Range: , 6-8, 9-12

Explore the ancient Japanese sport of sumo with this interactive guide to the sumo wrestler. Discover the historical origins of the sport, and consider the significance of the wrestling ring as well as wrestlers' hairstyles, clothing and girth.
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/sumoeastandwest/interactive.html
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MATH

ZOOM: Paper Puzzle
Offline Activity/Project
Grade Range: K-2, 3-5

Solve the challenge to assemble a collection of paper strips of different sizes into two equal-length rows.
http://pbskids.org/zoom/printables/activities/
NOVA: Infinite Secrets: Archimedes' Recipe for Pi
Lesson Plan
Grade Range: 6-8, 9-12

Define perimeter, circumference, radius, diameter and area and demonstrate how to draw polygons that are inscribed in a circle and circumscribed around a circle. Estimate the value of pi by duplicating the method Archimedes used.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/teachers/activities/3010_archimed.html
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READING AND LANGUAGE ARTS

PBS Parents Guide to Reading and Language: Writing Development
Interactive/Online Activity
Grade Range: PreK, K-2

Tour a portfolio of writing samples by one child from babyhood to third grade that help illustrate how writing develops naturally as well as the relationship between reading and writing. Consider literacy signposts at each level.
http://www.pbs.org/parents/readinglanguage/writing/main.html
Seeing in the Dark: Sky Heroes
Offline Activity/Project
Grade Range: 3-5, 6-8

Discover how star patterns, or constellations, got their names from heroes of legend or history. Identify a living hero and rename an existing constellation in honor of that hero.
http://www.pbs.org/seeinginthedark/for-teachers/
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SCIENCE AND TECH

Nature: The Cheetah Orphans
On-Air & Online | Sunday, November 11, 2007
Grade Range: 6-8, 9-12

When the mother of two cheetah cubs is killed, a veteran filmmaker becomes their new parent, beginning a two-year emotional rollercoaster as he prepares them to return to the wild. (CC, Stereo, 1 year)
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/cheetahorphans/index.html
Georgia Aquarium: Keepers of the Deep
On-Air & Online | Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Grade Range: 6-8, 9-12

The Georgia Aquarium, which opened in November 2005 in Atlanta, is the largest aquarium in the world, housing 46 exhibit displays and encompassing nearly 100 habitats of aquatic life. This program brings viewers up close and personal with aquarium residents, including whale sharks, beluga whales and a couple of spunky sea otters named Oz and Gracie. (CC, 1 year)

NOVA: Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial
On-Air & Online | Tuesday, November 13, 2007, 8:00 - 10:00 PM
Grade Range: 6-8, 9-12

In Dover, PA, in 2004, the local school board ordered science teachers to read to their high school biology students a statement that suggested there is an alternative to Darwin's theory of evolution called Intelligent Design. The science teachers refused to comply with the order; alarmed parents filed a lawsuit in federal court accusing the school board of violating the separation of church and state. Suddenly, the small town of Dover was torn apart by controversy, pitting neighbor against neighbor. NOVA captures the emotional conflict in interviews with the townspeople, scientists and lawyers who participated in the historic six-week trial. (CC, Stereo, HD, 1 year)
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova
Wired Science
On-Air & Online | Wednesday, November 14, 2007, 7:00 - 8:00 PM
Grade Range: 9-12

"Wired Science" travels to Vermont to watch as sensors are placed on a bridge to prevent it from collapsing; Ziya Tong examines restless leg syndrome and what ignited this condition into a business; Rocky Roccanova demonstrates TouchTable's interactive interface; Adam Rogers looks into sending signals via satellite; Jeff Hawkins chats with Adam Rogers about his quest to build the first genuinely intelligent machine; and Dylan Tweeny, sets out to build a UFO hovercraft with his six-year-old daughter. (CC, Stereo, HD, 1 year)

Log on to the Education section of the "Wired Science" Web site to find blogs with expert teachers discussing how to use "Wired Science" in the classroom, student of the month and teacher of the month features, and a "Careers in Science" section.
http://www.pbs.org/kcet/wiredscience/
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SOCIAL STUDIES

Independent Lens: Miss Navajo
On-Air & Online | Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Grade Range: 6-8, 9-12

For more than 50 years, the Miss Navajo Nation beauty pageant has given its contestants opportunities to showcase not just their beauty, but their skills in dance, music and sheep slaughtering. Following contestants in their quest for the crown and featuring personal stories of recent winners, "Miss Navajo" is a celebration of womanhood. (CC, Stereo, 1 year)
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/missnavajo/
The War: A World Without War
On-Air & Online | Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Grade Range: 9-12

In the final episode of "The War," Americans are shocked by President Roosevelt's death; many do not even know the name of their new president, Harry Truman. Meanwhile, as Allied forces rapidly push across Germany from the east and west, American and British troops discover for themselves the true horrors of the Nazi's industrialized barbarism. Finally, on May 8, with their country in ruins and their fuehrer dead by his own hand, the Nazis surrender. As the Americans prepare to move on to Japan itself, more terrible losses seem inevitable. Allied leaders at Potsdam set forth the terms under which they will agree to end the war, but for most of Japan's rulers, unconditional surrender remains unthinkable. (CC, Stereo, HD, 1 year)

Visit the companion Web site to access 14 media-rich lesson plans, 9 classroom activities, a Search and Explore tool that allows students to browse the extensive collection of primary sources on the site, create collections and share them with peers and teachers, and a Power of Story toolkit designed to help students create oral histories and video documentaries.
http://www.pbs.org/thewar/
Washington Week with Gwen Ifill and National Journal
On-Air & Online, 8:30 - 9:00 PM
Grade Range: 9-12

"Washington Week," the longest-running news and public affairs program on public television, has forged an editorial partnership with "National Journal," the nonpartisan publication that for 36 years has been dedicated to providing comprehensive coverage of the politics and policy of the federal government. (CC, Stereo, 1 year)

Be our fifth panelist. Write in for the "Webcast Extra." Answers to your questions will be available online Friday night.
http://www.pbs.org/washingtonweek
NOW
On-Air & Online | Friday, November 16, 2007
Grade Range: 9-12

Through documentary segments and interviews with original thinkers, "NOW" goes beyond the noisy churn of the news cycle and gives you the context to explore your relationship with the larger world. (CC, Stereo, 10-day fair use)
http://www.pbs.org/now
Bill Moyers Journal
On-Air & Online | Friday, November 16, 2007, 9:00 - 10:00 PM
Grade Range: 9-12

This weekly public affairs series features interviews and news analysis on a wide range of subjects, including politics, arts and culture, the media, the economy and issues facing democracy. (CC, Stereo, 1 year)

Log on to the companion Web site to sign up for the Moyers podcast.
http://www.pbs.org/moyers
Do You Speak American?: Hour Two
On-Air & Online | Friday, November 16, 2007
Grade Range: 9-12

In its second hour, "Do You Speak American?" heads into the Deep South for a look at Appalachian and "hillbilly," shaped by the Scots-Irish English of early frontier settlers like Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett. Footage of the legendary North Carolina storyteller Ray Hicks, who died in 2003, captures a prime example of the dialect, and in Rabbit Hash, Kentucky, "country talkin'" seems to be alive and kicking. (CC, Stereo, 1 year)
http://www.pbs.org/speak/
Online NewsHour EXTRA: Children's Health Is Political Battleground
Online
Grade Range: 6-8, 9-12

Recent political ads featuring images of children with a narrator saying "George Bush just vetoed Abby" are the latest weapons in a battle between Republicans and Democrats over The State Children's Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/july-dec07/schip_10-29.html
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PBS BLOGS

Media Infusion: Connecting Students with History
Online
Grade Range: 3-5, 6-8, 9-12

In this month's Media Infusion, American History teacher Eric Langhorst writes about the importance of making history matter to your students by giving them more than just facts and figures. Langhorst was a 2005 Global Microsoft Innovative Teacher and teaches eighth grade in Liberty, Missouri. He offers tips for bringing history - and World War II in particular - to life through personal stories.
http://www.pbs.org/teachers/mediainfusion/
Learning.now with Andy Carvin: Wanna Talk Podcasting? Organize a PodCamp!
Online
Grade Range: 3-5, 6-8, 9-12

Andy Carvin looks at PodCamp. It's one of the most interesting trends in the Web 2.0 event scene. The only thing you have to do is organize one for yourself.
http://www.pbs.org/teachers/learning.now/2007/11/wanna_talk_podcasting_organize_1.html
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PBS PARENTS

PBS Parents: Get Kids to Eat Smart
Online
Grade Range: PreK, K-3, 3-5

Talk to your kids about making smart food choices. We can't promise these tips will turn your children into full-time fruit and vegetable fans, but they can make healthy food choices more attractive for the whole family.
http://www.pbs.org/parents/parenthelpers/healthyfood.html
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GRANTS AND FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

The Young Poets Contest
Online

The Christian Science Monitor's 12th annual Young Poets Contest is now accepting submissions. Winners will be published in the paper in early January. Eligibility: students attending preschool through high school. Deadline: December 14, 2007.
http://www.csmonitor.com/homeforum/youngpoets.html
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