What do stories of kids running away to join the circus tell us about Wisconsin’s history?

Circus shows were in their golden age during the late 1800s. Behind the amazing feats and fun the shows promised was a major business enterprise. Circus workers formed a traveling city that was on the road nearly every day from spring through fall, thanks to the railroad. Today, Circus World stands at the site where circus history began right here in Wisconsin!

This episode is part of The Look Back, a series made for learners in grades 4-6 that explores eras from Wisconsin’s history through artifacts. The collection is hosted by historians who model an inquiry process: sharing artifacts, asking questions, visiting archives and museums to learn more, telling the story of their findings as they go, and making connections to our lives today.

Teaching can be a beautiful, playful, and life-giving profession—but it also can be very, very stressful. You are in charge of so much, and so many people depend on you, but a lot of factors are out of your control. And often, in the face of stress, you power through and be the best you can for your students because they are so important. But guess what? YOU’RE IMPORTANT, and we know it’s sometimes easy to neglect taking care of your own needs in favor of others.

Discover what Matt Hirshberg, a former middle school educator and current postdoctoral research associate at the Center for Healthy Minds has to share about this topic in a short video and companion essay on the aka Teacher blog.

Hosted by PBS Wisconsin Education, and created with and for Wisconsin educators, the aka Teacher blog offers a space for exploring the many hats educators today wear, and the topics that aren’t covered in teacher preparation programs. Blog posts include videos featuring educators around the state, and resources you can share with learners and use to continue your own learning.

This educator endured hardships and injustice to lift up Native and non-Native people through her generosity and guidance.

Resources available for exploring this story include:
- A short animated video with captions and transcripts in English and Spanish
- A short biography book accessible as a slide deck, with per-page audio for listening along, and maps of key locations in the story
- Questions that can be used for conversation, reflection, and connection with the story
- A historical image gallery full of primary and secondary sources to explore
- A guide for activating the media with learners that includes story stats, extension activity ideas, and standards supported

This story is part of Wisconsin Biographies, a collection of educational media resources for grades 3-6. Explore the full collection at pbswisconsineducation.org/biographies.

The words this strong and determined pioneer put to paper about her life in what would become Wisconsin opened a window into the past.

Resources available for exploring this story include:
- A short animated video with captions and transcripts in English and Spanish
- A short biography book accessible as a slide deck, with per-page audio for listening along, and maps of key locations in the story
- Questions that can be used for conversation, reflection, and connection with the story
- A historical image gallery full of primary and secondary sources to explore
- A guide for activating the media with learners that includes story stats, extension activity ideas, and standards supported

This story is part of Wisconsin Biographies, a collection of educational media resources for grades 3-6. Explore the full collection at pbswisconsineducation.org/biographies.

How are rising temperatures felt in our neighborhoods?
Experiences with extreme heat conditions are becoming more frequent for more people throughout the state. Listen and watch one spoken word poet give voice to real life in a neighborhood feeling the heat.

This resource is part of Climate Wisconsin, a collection of educational media resources for middle and high school classrooms from PBS Wisconsin Education.

How does a changing climate affect agriculture in our state?
The farmlands that define Wisconsin’s landscape also shape the economy and the communities we call home. As the climate conditions change, so too does the growing season, the prevalence of pests, and how farmers reach consumers. Discover the outcomes of these climate change effects through the story of one family’s farm.

This story is part of Climate Wisconsin, a collection of educational media resources for middle and high school classrooms from PBS Wisconsin Education.

How do amateur newspapers document the experiences of young people during the Progressive Era?

Young people writing and printing their own newspapers became popular in the late 1860s and 70s. This was a time of significant industrialization in the United States. With the invention of a small, hobby printing press, young people could make and share news via their own newspapers and grow communities by printing and swapping them.

This episode is part of The Look Back, a series made for learners in grades 4-6 that explores eras from Wisconsin’s history through artifacts. The collection is hosted by historians who model an inquiry process: sharing artifacts, asking questions, visiting archives and museums to learn more, telling the story of their findings as they go, and making connections to our lives today.

What does climate change mean for the species that live in Wisconsin waters?

The streams of the Driftless region are where you’ll find the trout that fly fishers are after. With changes to the frequency of extreme weather events, water temperatures, and plant cover from predators, come stresses to the trout, impacting their survival and that of fly fishing in the region. Wade into the story of one fly fishing guide’s experience to learn more about what’s happening and what’s at stake.

This resource is part of Climate Wisconsin, a collection of educational media resources for middle and high school classrooms from PBS Wisconsin Education.

How are trees in Wisconsin’s forests subject to climate change?

The forested areas throughout the state reflect the changes in climate what is growing in them, and how. Find out how changes in climate and the arrival of non-local species are impacting the forests managed by the Menominee Nation and what it means for the health of forests across the state.

This resource is part of Climate Wisconsin, a collection of educational media resources for middle and high school classrooms from PBS Wisconsin Education.

What do hit records tell us about life and business in post-WWI Wisconsin?

After World War I, factories and mass production were booming—and so was the record business! People had income to buy records and record players, and companies took notice. Paramount Records, started by the Wisconsin Chair Company based in Port Washington, sold records by well-known musicians of the time until the Great Depression crashed the party.

This episode is part of The Look Back, a series made for learners in grades 4-6 that explores eras from Wisconsin’s history through artifacts. The collection is hosted by historians who model an inquiry process: sharing artifacts, asking questions, visiting archives and museums to learn more, telling the story of their findings as they go, and making connections to our lives today.

From outdoor adventures in Clear Lake, to representing his community and his state in government, this down-to-earth visionary always kept his eyes on the environment to make a better world for us all.

Resources available for exploring this story include:
- A short animated video with captions and transcripts in English and Spanish
- A short biography book accessible as a slide deck, with per-page audio for listening along, and maps of key locations in the story
- Questions that can be used for conversation, reflection, and connection with the story
- A historical image gallery full of primary and secondary sources to explore
- A guide for activating the media with learners that includes story stats, extension activity ideas, and standards supported

This story is part of Wisconsin Biographies, a collection of educational media resources for grades 3-6. Explore the full collection at pbswisconsineducation.org/biographies/about.

This educator carried teachings of Tibetan Buddhism with him from Tibet to the United States, and built a community for teaching and learning in southern Wisconsin.

Resources available for exploring this story include:
- A short animated video with captions and transcripts in English and Spanish
- A short biography book accessible as a slide deck, with per-page audio for listening along, and maps of key locations in the story, available in English and Tibetan
- Questions that can be used for conversation, reflection, and connection with the story
- A historical image gallery full of primary and secondary sources to explore
- A guide for activating the media with learners that includes story stats, extension activity ideas, and standards supported

This story is part of Wisconsin Biographies, a collection of educational media resources for grades 3-6. Explore the full collection at pbswisconsineducation.org/biographies.

Airplanes are more than just a way to get from one place to another quickly—they are historical artifacts! To keep those planes flying high and on the right route, lighted airway beacons and radio communications were developed during the “Golden Age of Aviation” between World War I and World War II. Even during the challenging years of the Great Depression, these innovations propelled the use of planes by services like the United States Postal Service to get mail across the state, country, and world faster than ever before.

This episode is part of The Look Back, a series made for learners in grades 4-6 that explores eras from Wisconsin’s history through artifacts. The collection is hosted by historians who model an inquiry process: sharing artifacts, asking questions, visiting archives and museums to learn more, telling the story of their findings as they go, and making connections to our lives today.

How do faked photos on postcards poke fun at the reality of life in the Midwest over 100 years ago?

Tall-tale postcards—photographic postcards showing greatly exaggerated produce and animals–emerged as part of the “postcard mania” in the United States in the late 1800s to the 1920s. Life on the plains and prairies at that time was tough. Droughts, storms, swarms of insects, and other disasters plagued places like Wisconsin and made growing food far from easy. The tall-tale postcard emerged as a humorous response–with supersized fruits and vegetables making the Midwest seem like the land of plenty and problem-free.

This episode is part of The Look Back, a series made for learners in grades 4-6 that explores eras from Wisconsin’s history through artifacts. The collection is hosted by historians who model an inquiry process: sharing artifacts, asking questions, visiting archives and museums to learn more, telling the story of their findings as they go, and making connections to our lives today.

Greg “Biskakone” Johnson is a member of the Lynx Clan and an enrolled member of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Learn how his passion for keeping traditional ways alive includes hunting deer and using nearly all parts of the deer for food, clothing, and tools.

This resource is part of The Ways, a collection of educational media resources for middle and high school classrooms from PBS Wisconsin Education.

Explore the full collection: https://pbswisconsineducation.org/theways/about/

Why might less ice on the lakes, for less time, be a problem?
Wisconsin winters are often thought of as long and cold, but for those who love ice fishing, those cold temperatures mean they’ll have the ice cover needed to fish on the lakes. As conditions change, ice cover and the ice fishing season are changing too, and people are noticing. Hear from two ice fishing enthusiasts about their experiences heading out on the lakes to fish.

This resource is part of Climate Wisconsin, a collection of educational media resources for middle and high school classrooms from PBS Wisconsin Education.

This series of videos feature Wisconsin educators demonstrating effective use of learning strategies-using prior knowledge, making connections, questioning, visualizing, inferring, summarizing, evaluating, synthesizing-with students. Programs combine actual classroom footage with dialogue and teachers' personal reflections on instructional practices.

The Teachers area of the Into the Book website provides additional information about the classrooms featured in each episode of Behind the Lesson. Click on "Teacher Video" to find information and extra video clips from Dr. Mike Ford's interviews of each teacher.

Into the Book is a reading comprehension multimedia resource. Students learn to use reading comprehension strategies including: prior knowledge, making connections, questioning, visualizing, inferring, summarizing, evaluating and synthesizing. This resource includes educational videos, online activities, professional learning videos and teacher tools. Discover more at reading.ecb.org.

How does toast tell us about the time of the fur trade in Wisconsin?

Before and after the American Revolutionary War, French explorers were coming to the area we now know as Wisconsin. One of those people was a blacksmith named Joseph Jourdain. He and other blacksmiths used fire to heat metal so it could be shaped into tools like an iron toaster, which was used to make toast over a fire.

This episode is part of The Look Back, a series made for learners in grades 4-6 that explores eras from Wisconsin’s history through artifacts. The collection is hosted by historians who model an inquiry process: sharing artifacts, asking questions, visiting archives and museums to learn more, telling the story of their findings as they go, and making connections to our lives today.

Jo Wilder and the Capitol Case is a tool for students to engage in critical thinking and historical inquiry. As the plot unfolds, players come across primary source materials. Players use the same skills as real historians: investigation, identification, corroboration and contextualizing evidence. To win each challenge, players must piece together the evidence to argue their case. The game was designed by WPT Education, Field Day Lab, and a cohort of 3rd-5th grade social studies teachers. The game was tested by students throughout the state of Wisconsin.