WordGirl, My Hero!

 

One of my favorite super heroes of all time has entered the scene just in the last decade -- WORD GIRL!  She battles horrible grammar but in the form of ugly crime ridden punks like Lady Redundancy Woman and Nocan the Contrarian.   She knows EVERY word in the dictionary and appears out of no where to save the day by pausing the clock, wreaking havoc to crusade for justice and save the day!

This holiday season, WORDGIRL premieres a new It's a Wonderful Life-inspired episode "A World Without WordGirl" on PBS KIDS GO!.  Blowing out her birthday candles after one too many superhero interruptions, Becky wishes for a world without WordGirl. She realizes her wish has come true and Chuck has become a king who has imposed strange rules. Will Becky find the last piece of enchanted birthday cake so that she can wish for the return of WordGirl and make things go back to how they were before? "A World Without WordGirl" premieres on Friday, December 16 at 3:30 pm on Channel 8!

Dig deeper with your students in PBS Learning Media by searching for national and common core state standards based activities to support your curriculum to continue to the good fight!  WordGirl and Captain Huggie Face will be ready and armed with fantastic resources to assist. 

Create your FREE account on PBS Learning Media and do a keyword search for wordgirl to find various interactives and videos similar to the one  above designed to reinforce definitions, pronunciations, syllabications and parts of speech of the vocabulary words used in the show in sentences.   

Contact asset@asu.edu for more information and free professional development on on this online collection of over 17,000 videos, lesson plans, interactives, and other resources for educators with local outreach efforts generously supported in Arizona by CenturyLink.

A Deadline is Approaching... and the Curriculum Deserves a Review as Well!

Where will you go in life? Your journey awaits you—apply now and invite your friends to apply by going here: http://roadtripnation.com/participate/apply.php. 

Last spring I had the honor of sitting at a table at a full day meeting with one of the creators of Roadtrip Nation.  At the time I didn't do my homework and go back and do research.  Completely my loss!  However, there is no time like the present, and while educators may have some time to do some exploring over the next couple of weeks I am hopeful they will take the time to see the resources I have recently fallen in love with on Roadtrip Nation.

The curriculum is rooted in 21st C skills, school to work, drop out prevention, career readiness.... all those things we want our graduates to have... and can be to be woven into discussions in homeroom or advisory periods, social studies or English.  There are career segments that can fit as well if you do keyword searches.   It is natural for high school and a consideration for middle school.  There are contribution opportunities for online interaction.  There are streaming video segments and connections to what students may see on AZ-PBS if they are channel surfing late on a Saturday night.  The new season is underway and applications are even being accepted for the 2011 Roadtrip!

http://roadtripnation.com/conversations/

The screencapture shows how, with a free login as an educator you can set up a course and have your students participate with you! Or, if you simply want to just watch portions of the show and read comments and post anonymous quotes with your students, you can do that as well.  Your level of participation is up to you.  http://roadtripnation.org/rtnexperience/ 

Learn more about the curriculum and bring it to your school and district.  Download a brochure as a start...  No matter what roadtrip your holiday takes you on this season - enjoy!  Consider sharing it with PBS and pass the application for a 2011 trip opportunity on to a worthy young adult in your life.

Remembering Arizona Veterans - Capture Stories

Happy Veterans Day, Arizona! Make sure you take time to remember a Veteran, thank them, thank their family members for their sacrifices as well, and show your support.  Last night, Wednesday, November 10, Horizon's Host Ted Simons conducted 2 interviews with Arizona Veterans.  The video will be posted before noon tomorrow!  I encourage you to take time to share a brief segment from at least one with your students in discussion tomorrow.  Both were touching conversations with men who were proud to have served their country and be a part of history.(Check for Horizon's interview of Korean veteran as soon as it gets posted on azpbs.org/horizon) 

The clip above showcases Arizonans -- and Arizona communities -- that were forever changed by the Second World War. Eight presents back-to-back stories exploring the struggles and conflict, the sacrifice and the bravery. Explore the resources Eight- Arizona PBS has to offer locally from the World War II story collection.

Explore ways to capture stories from this local link... or better yet... we encourage you to tell your story... share your story as a veteran or a family member with a service member on active duty or proudly now at home to share his or her memories either in writing, in pictures, in video, or all three through the StoryCorps.

Eight -Arizona PBS and Eight Educational Outreach-ASSET will be working throughout the next few weeks to actively collect stories from friends and family across the state.  We encourage you to help us!  As you gather for the holidays, this is a wonderful time to begin to uncover the stories and pictures and memories so often shared this time of year.

Watch the full episode. See more Independent Lens.

The wait is almost over... the Cat will be here to celebrate Labor Day!

The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! on Monday, September 6 at 9:30 a.m.

Voiced by award-winning actor Martin Short, Dr. Seuss's The Cat in the Hat guides friends Sally and Nick — with a little help from the Fish, Thing 1 and Thing 2 (my personal favorites :) )— on fun-filled adventures where they make natural-science discoveries, from how bees make honey to why owls sleep during the day.

The show is based on the acclaimed The Cat in the Hat's Learning Library book series. Filled with both adventure and silliness, it appeals to preschoolers' natural curiosity and engages them in the process of scientific exploration and discovery.  Is there any doubt? Eight delivers children's programming you can trust!

Use it as an active viewing opportunity and explore the Parents & Teachers information online!  Get excited about digging deeper into the activities and reading aloud the stories with your children after the show is over.  THEN.... reserve your seat for the OCTOBER 2, 2010... CAT in the HAT KNOWS A Lot ABOUT THAT... BREAKFAST with KIM STOREY... Experience PBS ASSET Educator Institute 2010.  Space is Limited and we want you to have a spot at the table with the red & white striped hats!

Cheers to GREEN EGGS & HAM! and of course, Happy Labor Day!