Teacher blog

PROGRAMMING/RESOURCE ALERTS:

PBS Set to Unveil New Kids' Science Series

"Sid the Science Kid" features Sid, an inquisitive youngster who tackles the everyday ideas that preschoolers find fascinating (Where does the garbage go? Why do we sneeze? How does orange juice get inside the orange?). The Jim Henson Company is producing the forty half-hour episodes of the series using the Henson Digital Performance Studio, a proprietary technology that allows puppeteers to perform digital characters in real time creating a more spontaneous and fresh result. Read more here.

PBS Adds iTunes U Content
Apple's iTunes U offerings have expanded with new content from the PBS network and PBS affiliated stations. PBS' new area on iTunes U includes teaching content, such as K-12 teachers' classroom resources organized by content like Earth and Space Science and Engineering; content on global history in regions including Africa, Asia, Europe and the middle East; series including Ken Burns' The War and The Jewish Americans; and QUEST: Science and Nature.

This Month's Media Fusion Column:
Will you be recording the Masterpiece Theatre series on Jane Austen
airing January-April on PBS ? If so, be sure to read the
Media Fusion written by Carla Beard:
Using Today's Technology to Help Students Connect With Literature


PBS KIDS to launch Children's Health Initiative To Fight Childhood Obesity
Online; grades K-12
In response to the increasing number of children facing risks from childhood obesity,
PBS KIDS is kicking off an innovative multi-platform children's health initiative to encourage kids and families to make healthy choices and help reverse the rising rates of obesity. The initiative will build upon PBS KIDS' content and resources that support a child's overall well being and health development. Details here.

ANNENBERG ANNOUNCES NEW SERIES
*** TWO BRAND NEW SERIES ***

MATHEMATICS ILLUMINATED
"Mathematics Illuminated" is a brand new series for teacher professional development and college level instruction that explores major themes in mathematics, with an emphasis on deep questions and their relevance to everyday life. Concepts covered include symmetry, prime numbers, infinity, topology, dimension, game theory, and chaos. A series Web site, which will become available by the series broadcast premiere in April, features an online text, downloadable guides, links to Video on Demand, video transcripts, a bibliography, and several interactive activities.

Check our Web site <http://www.learner.org/redirect/january/math7.html> for program descriptions and a link to the broadcast schedule. 

AMERICA's HISTORY IN THE MAKING: PART II
Picking up the story of America after the Reconstruction period, "America's History in the Making, Part II" premieres on the Channel and online in January. This professional development course for American History teachers includes eight half-hour programs featuring themes and movements, individuals who shaped history, and people whose work involves aspects of historical study and preservation. Additional units help teachers to find and use digital resources and to apply the thematic strands in their teaching.

Check the Web site for these and other online resources at <http://www.learner.org/redirect/january/ahist8.html>.

Sneak peak at more upcoming PBS programming: