Media Specialists
April 16, 2014 - April 22, 2014

Find the latest educational resources from Iowa Public Television.

MARTHA SPEAKS Reading Buddies in Action
Grade Range: K-1, 4-5

Martha Speaks, a PBS KIDS television series, aims to help children ages 4-7 build their oral vocabulary -- an important early literacy skill. In this video, part of the MARTHA SPEAKS mini-tutorial, The Experts Speak, kindergarten teacher Weddy Youn and fourth-grade teacher Joseph Cooke describe their experience using the eight-week cross-age program, MARTHA SPEAKS Reading Buddies. In addition to enhancing students' enjoyment of reading, they found that the program -- which includes reading and talking together, playing games, and writing or drawing -- helped younger students learn and use new words, while older students gained fluency, self-confidence, and leadership skills. The video is accompanied by an article written by Youn and Cooke that describes their experience in greater detail. Based on the curriculum behind MARTHA SPEAKS, this innovative initiative builds school community, while improving reading skills.

Wordball Games
Grades: 1-3

Right before the yearly Wordball Games, Hector sprains his ankle. With Hector unable to compete, The Electric Company may not have enough players to participate! But when Manny also gets hurt the numbers are even once again. But can Marcus handle Hector's event, the Word Obstacle course? The goal of this resource is vocabulary.

American Master's Collection
Grades: 8-12

American Masters, public television's award-winning biography series, brings unique originality and perspective to exploring the lives and illuminating the creative journeys of our most enduring writers, musicians, visual and performing artists, dramatists and filmmakers -- those who have left an indelible impression on our nation's cultural landscape. This collection offers you access to classroom-ready videos and articles drawn from the Series broadcasts and website.

Spring Forward with PBS TeacherLine Courses

Grades: Adult Learning

Check out the spring 2014 line-up of PBS TeacherLine courses to learn the skills you need to lead a winning class! PBS TeacherLine offers an assortment of online development courses trusted by thousands of PreK-12 educators from 15 to 45-hour facilitated courses to 1.5 to 3-hour self-paced courses that you can take on your own time.

NEW: Build your 21st-century classroom with new 1.5 hour self-paced courses designed to help you integrate digital media and technology in your classroom.

Poetry Everywhere

Grade Range: 7-12

Use the PBS Poetry Everywhere series to explore the power of language, look at the world with a fresh sense of wonder, and build reading and writing skills. These video segments capture some of the voices of poetry, past and present.

Solar-Powered Plane Revealed in Switzerland

Grade Range: 7-12

Inform students how some people around the world are finding new ways to travel using the power of the sun with PBS NewsHour video and educational resources from April 14, 2014. Following 12 years of research and testing, designers and pilots Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg debuted a huge solar-powered plane in Switzerland this week. The plane, which boasts a wingspan wider than a 747's, is covered in more than 17,000 solar cells. For further background and materials to support student understanding of the issue see the Teacher's Guide, Student Handout, and Informational Text by clicking "Learn More."

Down the Drain

Grade Range: K-2

Learn and practice Spanish, including vocabulary for playground equipment and numbers, with the Oh Noah!: Down the Drain webisode, related games, and lesson plan. In the webisode, Coco's ball ("pelota") rolls into the sewer and she asks Noah to retrieve it. Noah doesn't know what "pelota" means, so he brings back a crocodile instead! Students can learn, build upon, and apply the Spanish vocabulary by playing the interactive games. In the Got Your Number lesson plan, students will practice this Spanish vocabulary through a mapping activity, color-by-number sheet, and an assortment of number games.

Controlling Water Run-Off

Grade Range: 4-12

This video shows how the environmentally friendly design of the Visitor Center at Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest near Louisville, Kentucky, helps to control non-point-source water pollution, conserve water, and prevent erosion by slowing down and collecting water run-off. The video examines the sources of non-point-source water pollution, the structure and function of a green roof, using a reservoir to collect water, and the structure and function of a French drain and a cistern.

Stream Restoration

Grade Range: 4-12

This video explores how Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest near Louisville, Kentucky, restored a channelized stream to its original meandering path. In the past, farmers throughout Kentucky channelized or straightened streams to access the rich bottomland along the streambeds. Bernheim moved a stream that runs through the park back to its original path and replanted its banks with local plants appropriate for a riparian zone, the wetland area beside a stream. The video explains the environmental advantages of meandering streams: improved water quality, more diverse and healthier ecosystems, and reductions in flooding and soil erosion.

Percent as a Means to Compare Fractions

Grade Range: 4-8

In this video segment from Cyberchase, the CyberSquad looks at data on the Squitters' jumping attempts. They first convert the fractional results to equivalent fractions with denominator values equal to 100. Then they notice that these fractions can be written as percents.

Climate Change Threatens Pacific Paradise

Grade Range: 6-12

Carteret Islanders (of Papua New Guinea) describe how climate change is destroying their home island of Han, in these two videos adapted from UNU-IAS Traditional Knowledge Initiative and Pacific Black Box, Inc. In the first video, Nicholas Hakata explains that flooding carries sand inland, creates mosquito breeding grounds, destroys property, and causes starvation. His fellow islanders discuss relocating the community. In the second video, teenager Jerryanne Hugo talks about the crop destruction and water shortage caused by sea level rise. Note: The first video, narrated by Hakata in his native language, is subtitled in English.

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