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KLRN Educator Resources | December 2023

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by
Ian Cruz
• Published on
Cartoon image of Daniel Tiger - an orange tiger wearing a puffy red jacket. Daniel Tiger poses with his arms outstretched as snow falls around him
KLRN Education

Dear Friends,

This month, we are focusing on sharing our stories, and the wisdom and understanding we can draw from listening to each other. It is enlightening to learn new things about each other and our world. Please visit these links to watch these excellent PBS programs this month; please click on the links below to learn about when you can watch these programs on air: Molly of Denali, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, Alma's Way, Cook's Country, Rick Steves' Europe, Samantha Brown's Places to Love

We also hope you will join us for our virtual educator sessions this month: 

 

Thank you to San Antonio Medical Foundation and Firstmark Credit Union for their support of educator training sessions. Please learn more about upcoming sessions and events at klrn.org/events.

 

On PBS Learning Media, you can find thousands of high-quality educational resources for all grade levels for free! Setting up an account is easy to do (and completely free!) Visit https://klrn.pbslearningmedia.org/signup/ and you can sign up with your email in just a few easy steps: enter your first and last name, email address, and create a password, and you are all set to access any of the over  30,000 state standards-aligned educational resources for free! Some highlighted collections we recommend this month are: 

Hanukkah | All About the Holidays (Grades 3-5): Hanukkah is a Jewish celebration, but anyone can find meaning in the holiday. Check out the origins of the tradition, and how it is observed today. This resource is available in English and Spanish.

Christmas | All About the Holidays (Grades 3-5): Christmas Day isn't just a holiday for Christians. Learn about the various traditions that people hold to celebrate it. Then have yourself a merry little Christmas! This resource is available in English and Spanish.

Kwanzaa | All About the Holidays (Grades 3-5) Kwanzaa is a time to celebrate African American heritage. Learn the ways people observe this festivity and trace back its roots to ancient African customs. This resource is available in English and Spanish.

Molly of Denali (Grades K-2) Informational text and Alaska Native culture form the basis of the groundbreaking MOLLY OF DENALI™ series and its educational resources. The MOLLY OF DENALI™ collection offers videos, digital games, lessons, teaching tips, and activities so that educators can utilize the series in the classroom. Set in a rural Alaskan village, and featuring the adventures of Molly, her family, and friends, MOLLY OF DENALI™ models the many ways that children can access and create informational text in their daily lives. At the same time, the stories are infused with Alaska Native values, history, traditions, language, as well as contemporary life.

Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood (Grades PreK-2) Social-emotional development and academic success are much more related than many people think. We often hear talk about the academic curriculum or the social-emotional approach to early education as if these are two separate things. Research tells us that for children to be successful in school, they must be mentally healthy and they must have good interpersonal skills. Emotional development skills include the ability to regulate behavior, to manage feelings, to feel competent in completing tasks, and confident in trying new things. To help boost these invaluable skills among preschoolers, each episode of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood consists of two engaging stories that center on a common early learning theme with catchy, musical strategies that reinforce each theme and that preschoolers and adults will both sing – and use! – together in their daily lives.

Alma's Way (Grades PreK-2) ALMA’S WAY follows 6-year-old Alma Rivera, a proud, confident Puerto Rican girl who lives in the Bronx with her family among a diverse group of close-knit friends and community members. In every episode, ALMA’S WAY aims to model self-awareness, self-advocacy, social awareness, cultural competency and responsible decision-making—encouraging kids to generate and value their own ideas and questions. ALMA’S WAY celebrates and explores the thinking process—Alma’s “way” is to think things through! As she shares her observations and feelings and works through challenges, she speaks directly to young viewers, offering them a window into her everyday life.

Cyberchase | Cooking with the Sun Activity (Grades 3-5) After watching a Cyberchase video, answering discussion questions and completing an activity, students will learn how to collect energy from the sun, convert it to electricity, and store it for use at night or on cloudy days.

Nature Cat (Grades K-2) Fred the house cat dreams of exploring the great outdoors. Once his family leaves for the day, Fred transforms into Nature Cat, "backyard explorer extraordinaire!" Enjoy looking through these clips, story segments, interactives, and readers as you do your own exploring with the Nature Cat crew!

KLRN’s The Healthy Kids Project (Grades PreK-2): The Healthy Kids Project uses song, movement, and animation in ten engaging lessons that support healthy choices and attitudes--teaching not only successful actions (limiting refined sugar, choosing water as a beverage, choosing fresh foods over processed foods), but also successful strategies (valuing the body, not letting past mistakes impede future success, taking one step at a time toward a goal, helping others to make good choices.) Each lesson contains a 60-second video and is accompanied by an overview, lesson plan and student activity. It’s a turnkey kit for teachers to impart critical life lessons about health, without taking time away from core subjects.

Watt Watchers (All Grades): Watt Watchers of Texas is a state-sponsored STEM program to help boost energy literacy for K-12 students and help schools save money by saving energy. Through the program, students, teachers, and families will have access to energy saving tips, activities, and lessons. Launched in 1985, Watt Watchers of Texas is an updated resource that builds upon the original beloved program and provides a modern look at energy, sustainability and conservation.

As always, at the bottom of this post, you will find a list of links of organizations, both local and nationally, that provide mental health resources. Please know that the world is nicer because you are in it. Reach out to us anytime at education@klrn.org. 

With appreciation,

KLRN Education Team


 

Mental Health Resources

If you or someone you know is hurting or in crisis, call or text 988 or visit 988lifeline.org to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline