Media Specialists
November 13-November 19, 2013

Find the latest educational resources from Iowa Public Television.

PBS Kids Writers Contest: Read & Create Stories
Grades: K-3

The PBS Kids Writers Contest is for students who want to write and illustrate their own stories. Read stories by other students and create new stories using the story creation tool. Support materials include a comprehensive Writing Guide and handouts that teach students the elements of story writing.

Symbolism: Keely's Mountain

Grades: 5-8

In this blended lesson supporting literacy skills, students are introduced to Keely, who feels that her identity as a Nipmuc Native American is weakened because there is no strong Nipmuc community around her. The video Keely made when she was young and felt discouraged is countered by her positive thoughts about identity when she is older. Students develop their literacy skills through an English language arts focus on symbolism. During this process, they read informational text, learn and practice vocabulary words, and explore content through videos and interactive activities.

Persuasive Writing: Take a Stand

Grades: 9-12

The ability to state ideas clearly and back them up with proof is increasingly important, regardless of one's profession, age or background. New technologies such as blogs, podcasts, instant messaging, virtual social networks and email make opinionated self-expression easier and more encouraged than ever before. At the same time, learning to distinguish reputable sources of information from inaccurate sources is challenging, yet important when making credible arguments. Learning how to recognize credible sources and use those to form opinions and support them is a skill used by everyone from sports stars and homemakers to business leaders and politicians.

Johnny Cash: Personal Narratives Inspired by Johnny Cash
Grade Range: 6-12

This lesson plan is designed to be used with the 1969 documentary, Johnny Cash: The Man, His World, His Music, which shows a collection of scenes from Cash's life and a number of concert performances. Since Cash's songs frequently reflected his life experiences, classrooms can use his music to inspire personal narratives.

Brian Selznick
Grade Range: 4-7

Brian Selznick feels that his illustrations are more authentic when he immerses himself in his subject matter. For the picture book "Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride", Selznick spent six months in Washington, DC conducting research at libraries and museums. For his Caldecott-Honor-winning illustrations in "The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins", he traveled to London to sketch, photograph, and climb inside the famous dinosaur replicas. For his best-selling 533-page illustrated novel, "The Invention of Hugo Cabret", Selznick watched old French films, interviewed experts, and traveled to Paris three times. That book won the 2008 Caldecott Medal for it's groundbreaking "cinematic" illustrations. Learn about his research methods, how he ended up as a children's illustrator, and his childhood inspirations in this series of Meet the Author videos.

Geographic Features

Grade Range: 9-12

Geographic features affect how civilizations develop. Take a trip through mountains, lakes, rivers, and forests and discover how each of these features shaped the world as we know it today.

The Cost of Human Rights

Grade Range: 9-12

This video from Women, War & Peace follows Clemencia Carabali, a community activist from Cauca, as she travels to Washington, D.C. Carabali travels to D.C. to share with congressional staffers the perspective of Cauca's residents-while the Colombian government has one story to tell, many of its residents have a very different and untold story. Following Carabali's meeting, the U.S. Department of State takes notice of the land conflict in Colombia and vows to continue monitoring the case, which may help the residents of Cauca in their struggle.

The Way We Get By: Historical Perspectives: Coming Home From War
Grade Range: 6-12

This resource group utilizes the film and website resources for The Way We Get By, which tells the story of a group of volunteers who have greeted more than 900,000 troops at a tiny airport in Bangor, Maine. Classrooms can use the resources to conduct an investigation that compares and contrasts the homecoming experiences of soldiers who served in World War II, the Vietnam War, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Picasso, Matisse masterpieces uncovered in Munich after 70 years in hiding
Grade Range: 7-12

A trove of art valued at $1.4 billion were recovered after being hidden in a Munich apartment for more than 70 years.

Cow's Eye Dissection
Grade Range: 6-12

This interactive activity adapted from the Exploratorium delves into the structure and function of the vertebrate eye. Follow a videotaped dissection of a cow eye and then compare and contrast what you've seen with an interactive diagram of the human eye.

Energy Transfer in a Trebuchet
Grade Range: 6-12

In this video segment adapted from NOVA, a team of historians, engineers, and trade experts recreate a medieval throwing machine called a trebuchet. To launch a projectile, a trebuchet utilizes the transfer of gravitational potential energy into kinetic energy. A massive counterweight at one end of a lever falls because of gravity, causing the other end of the lever to rise and release a projectile from a sling. As part of their design process, the engineers use models to help evaluate how well their designs will work.

Velcro
Grade Range: 1-4

In this animated video from LOOP SCOOPS, a sphinx asks two children how a pair of sneakers is like a dog that has been outside. The kids discuss how dogs, after being outside, sometimes return to the house covered in burrs. Looking at both burrs and Velcro� under a magnifying glass, the children discover that both are covered with tiny hooks. The sphinx explains that the inventor of Velcro� was actually inspired by a walk in the woods with his dog.

The Science of Lewis and Clark
Grade Range: 4-6

This video segment from IdahoPTV's D4K points out that the mission of the Core of Discovery was map and to document the science of the plants, animals, land and people of their journey. They wrote about 178 plants and 120 animals. You hear their descriptions in their own words from their journals.

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