It's ELECTRIC!

What happens when you combine LOTS of kids of all ages, the Arizona State Fair, PBS KIDS Electric Company, and Eight Educational Outreach: ASSET?

Take a look at the slide show and see! Beatboxing with Shock, coloring, races to make words and guess sounds and a LOT OF FUN!

Thank you PBS KIDS Raising Readers, Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Shock for making this event a success in Arizona!

P.S.... Parents and educators have you SEEN these resources??? WOW!

Even WordWorld is Excited!

PBS KIDS Word World wishes you a Happy Halloween!

On October 30, PBS KIDS and PBS KIDS GO! will offer a spooktacular array of Halloween-themed episodes where kids can join their favorite characters from CURIOUS GEORGE, SUPER WHY!, SID THE SCIENCE KID, DINOSAUR TRAIN, ARTHUR, CYBERCHASE, MAYA & MIGUEL and more as they celebrate Halloween with costume parties, trick-or-treating, and nighttime adventures while learning a few important friendship lessons such as sharing and teamwork along the way. A new episode from WORDGIRL will broaden kids’ vocabulary as WordGirl protects the holiday from Tobey and his Robots and helps save the day.
~ PBS Teachers

But the BEST news?

On PBSKIDS.org/halloween, preschoolers and their parents can see what’s inside SID THE SCIENCE KID’s mystery lunchbox, play counting games with The Count from SESAME STREET, share favorite Halloween stories on Dot’s Story Factory, or view clips from favorite Halloween-themed episodes of CURIOUS GEORGE, SID THE SCIENCE KID, DINOSAUR TRAIN and more.

NATURE Arizona!

The contest just closed. The judging is underway. Come enjoy!

This weekend SHOCK is coming to the Arizona State Fair! The Electric Company Circuit Tour 2009 is making a stop in Phoenix on Saturday, October 17. Make plans to join us!





This event is FREE with your admission to the State Fair. It includes educational activities and audience participation. Local education technology director from Dysart Unified School District, Laurie King, will engage the crowd in all sorts of fun literacy activities after a special performance by Shock!

There is LOTS of thinking and curriculum packed into this activity disguised as FUN! Make plans for your PBS KIDS to join us! Consider subscribing to the YouTube Electric Company Channel too!

Blog Action Day 2009 - Climate Change

There are many things happening today with local PBS resources that contribute to motivating students, educators, and members of the community to take positive action with improving our planet. Many often think of ASSET in recent years as simply focused on early childhood. While early childhood is one of our core tenets, there is a whole host of other K-12 resources worth touting.

Have you explored resources from NATURE? ASSET has focused for the past several months on "Putting a Little More NATURE in Your Teaching."

Have you seen Eight's Sustainability collection of resources from Horizon and ASU? This is the place where scientists, educators, architects, farmers, policy makers, and business leaders discuss solutions for a sustainable planet.

Did you know that the 40th Season of Sesame Street will include Elmo teaching those youngest on the planet about nature and being green? "My World is Green and Growing" will be the new weekly feature this year.


What are you including in your teaching? Every facet of the curriculum in every subject area could incorporate real world examples involving climate change today. PBS Teachers creates Activity Packs to make it easier to embed extra resources on your classroom website:

• Global Populations
• Earth Day
• How's the Weather?

What action are YOU taking in your teaching? I'd love to hear how YOU and YOUR STUDENTS are making positive strides toward Climate Change.

Make it a date! October 7, 2009 - 5 pm AZ time

PBS Teachers Webinar: Teaching about Place with Ken Burns's "The National Parks: America's Best Idea" PBS producers and curriculum experts

Curriculum Connections: Social Studies & Science

PBS Teachers and Classroom 2.0 are delighted to have education technology experts join us to present ideas for teaching with Ken Burns’s newest series, "The National Parks: America’s Best Idea." The film traces the birth of the national park idea in the mid-1800s and follows its evolution for nearly 150 years. Using archival photographs, first-person accounts of historical characters, personal memories and analysis from more than 40 interviews, and stunning cinematography, the series chronicles the steady addition of new parks through the stories of the people who helped create them and save them from destruction.

Resources from ABC-CLIO "History & The Headlines" will also be included in the presentation from curriculum experts.

So... is it on YOUR calendar yet?

Perspectives from an Early Childhood Educator

posted on behalf of Hope Dillon, Mesa Public Schools educator

I was lucky to receive a grant last year to pay for a laptop for my classroom. Although we always encourage family members to volunteer in the classroom, not many do or are able. However, someone always picks up and drops off the preschooler. This is an opportunity to present photographs and short videos of the students at work during the day. It provides a "window into the classroom" for those family members who aren't able to be in the classroom.

What I do is, every day before pick up, I upload the many pictures I've taken during the day. Then I set those to play as a slide show. I have hooked up the laptop to another monitor so that there are two places to see the slideshow. The sign in/out book is placed between the two monitors. As family members are picking up their children, they are able to see the photos of what their children have done during that day. Some families stay and watch the whole slideshow, others just watch it as they are waiting in line to sign in/out.

Every day of the week I add that day's photos to the slideshow so that on Friday, we have a slideshow from the whole week. Because there are so many photos, we start a new slideshow every week.

I post my lesson plans on the parent board, send newsletters home to families explaining what we are studying, but pictures really capture the interest of the families. It allows families to see what we are studying in class and the activities we do. I don't have to print all the pictures I take, like I tried to do in past years. Instead, the photos are still shared, but on the computer. This allows me to print only specific photos in documentation panels to highlight focused studies such as the different ways of interacting with playdough or structures we make with blocks.

The parents' response to the slideshow has been extremely positive. Now everyone wants to know how they can get the pictures. So, my next project, I'm afraid, is going to have to be a class website. I'll let you know how it goes!