Find the latest news and resources from Iowa Public Television

Social Studies

OCTOBER 17 - 23, 2012

Here are some of the latest educational resources from Iowa Public Television. This week we focus on lesson plans, activities, and interactives to help engage your students with a deeper understanding of key concepts and skills in a variety of subject areas and grade levels. To find more resources go to iptv.org/classroom.

Video

Harriet Beecher Stowe Witnesses a Slave Auction

Grade Range: 6-8, 9-12

Having recently moved to Cincinnati with her family, Harriet Beecher Stowe crossed over into the slave state of Kentucky in 1832 and happened upon a slave auction. Witnessing a mother and child separated and sold separately would affect her forever.

Lesson Plan

Can the Media Influence the Fairness of Criminal Trials?

Grade Range: 9-12

In this lesson, students will investigate how press coverage of criminal trials has the potential to influence public opinion and the rights of the accused. Using a video case study of a trial in the Philippines, the class will first discuss how a man was characterized in the media following his arrest, and then analyze the coverage of the trial and verdict.

Video/Interactive

Blues

Grade Range: 3-5

In this video interactive from PBS LearningMedia, understand the roots of blues music; learn about the musical instruments typically used in playing blues; and see how different rhythms, lyrics, and note patterns combine in this music genre.

Interactive

Exploring Ancient Egypt

Grade Range: 6-8, 9-12

Want to walk around the Sphinx? Clamber inside the Great Pyramid of Giza and seek out the pharaoh's burial chamber? Visit the magnificent tombs and temples of ancient Thebes? In this multi-layered, highly visual interactive, view 360� panoramas, "walkaround" photos, and other breathtaking imagery shot throughout the Giza Plateau and ancient Thebes.

Lesson Plan
poems

Creating Place-based Poems

Grade Range: 9-12

In this lesson, students will walk step-by-step through the process of creating place-based poems. They will first practice identifying sights, sounds and other sensory details presented in a video clip about a unique cemetery in Mexico. Students will also investigate how this cemetery inspired the content of two poems by Mexican poet Dolores Dorantes.

Interactive

Meet the Candidates

Grade Range: K-2, 3-5

Meet this year's presidential candidates, and help students identify the duties of the U.S. president and begin to think critically about the skills necessary to be a good president.

Resources | PBS LearningMedia | PBS KIDS | PBS Teachers | Iowa Public Television