By practicing the three R’s – reduce, reuse and recycle – we can cut our trash by significant amounts and
lower our impact on landfills and the planet.
From website: the students will explore what it means to them to be an American. They will reflect on their own identities and family histories to better understand their experience. Individually and as a group, students will develop a definition of what it means to be an American and add to that definition throughout the year.
In this lesson, students will use a PBS NewsHour segment to better understand the tactics of disinformation, then learn about and practice geolocation skills to evaluate viral misinformation in an online activity.
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/
Spurred by the spectacle of a circus tent outside his Oakland apartment, a disabled filmmaker launches into a meditative journey exploring the history of freakdom, vision, and (in)visibility. Shot from director Reid Davenport's physical perspective - mounted to his wheelchair or handheld - I Didn't See You There serves as a clear rebuke to the norm of disabled people being seen and not heard.
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.
In this episode, Myles talks to people with autism and explores what acceptance of neurodiversity could look like. Watch and then let us know: How can the social model of disability change how society views autism?
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.
From growing up in a mountain village in Laos, to making a new home in Eau Claire, this Hmong American leader became a cross-cultural connector in his community.
Resources available for exploring this story include:
- A short animated video with captions and transcripts in English, Spanish, and Hmong
- A short biography book accessible as a slide deck, with per-page audio for listening along, and maps of key locations in the story (in English and Hmong)
- 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.
This freedom seeker traveled from St. Louis, Missouri to Racine, Wisconsin, and later to Canada, aided by abolitionists and the Underground Railroad. His story is part of a series of events that led to the declaration of the end of slavery in the United States.
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.
Neither her dad’s disapproval, nor Northern Wisconsin weather would keep this determined doctor from practicing medicine. When a dream of building a hospital seemed out of reach, her community collected a million pennies to make it happen.
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.
Kellen Abston, known on stage and to his listeners as “Klassik,” was born and raised in Milwaukee. He honors the family members and mentors who have guided him as he channels his creativity into making electro-soul-infused hip-hop music that takes the pulse of his life in the city.
This resource is part of Re/sound: Songs of Wisconsin; a collection of educational media resources from PBS Wisconsin Education and Wisconsin School Music Association. These resources can be used to explore connections between music, identities, cultures, and emotions. The collection includes video interviews with Wisconsin musicians, performances, audio files, and educator guides designed to help activate the media with learners in grades 4-8.
61 million adult Americans live with some sort of physical, sensory, or intellectual disability. When parents receive the news—prenatally or postnatally—that their child may have some form of a chromosomal difference or intellectual disability, it’s key that healthcare providers relay this diagnosis in a way that’s respectful to the family and those who live with these disabilities every day.
The Kindness Curriculum is a free 24-lesson mindfulness guide designed for early learning classrooms, researched and developed by the Center for Healthy Minds at UW-Madison. The curriculum is accompanied by a multi-part video series produced by PBS Wisconsin, which is designed to give educators insight into the positive impacts of teaching mindfulness and support educators in implementing the lessons in the Kindness Curriculum;
The Kindness Curriculum introduces techniques to help students self-regulate and improve peer relationships. Participation in the curriculum has been linked to academic achievement and increased performance in areas that predict future success.
The Kindness Curriculum video series provides insights from educators and a guided mindfulness exercise. On the project website, you can watch the series, download the Kindness Curriculum lessons, view the learning standards met and explore research behind the curriculum.
Every election year and for years after elections, there are several major issues that persistently trouble Americans. Every election year, politicians pledge that they will address these issues, and nearly every year they fall short of many peoples’ expectations. This time may be different, but it will take an educated voting population to explain to politicians exactly what they want done to address the issues. In this lesson, we begin that process by examining problems surrounding health care costs, funding higher education, and preserving social security. Then, students look at how the current presidential candidates are proposing to address these issues, and formulate a short media presentation using Flipgrid (https://info.flipgrid.com/) or some other media presentation tool to endorse one candidate.
Every teacher wants school to be a safe space for all students. A space where students can be who they are and express their ideas in an open, collaborative way. For kids who are bullied, that feeling of safety is removed. Until aggressors of a bullied student are stopped, that safety cannot be regained. When we talk about the bullying of LGBTQ+ students, however, it isn’t as simple as addressing aggressors alone.
Discover what Wisconsin educator, Patty Zemke has to share about how the bullying of LGBTQ+ students is more than just an aggressor-victim conflict, and demonstrate ways you can create a welcoming space for students of all identities in a short video in the post 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.
The Lady Thunderhawks varsity basketball team is a source of pride for the Oneida Nation. Learn how Jessica House, a captain of the team, infuses cultural heritage and discipline in her leadership role.
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/