This summer, PBS KIDS is focusing on literacy with 10 weeks of themed programming. This week THE CAT IN THE HAT KNOWS A LOT ABOUT THAT! “Creepy Crawley Week” will kick off on July 30 and feature the following episodes:
“Night Lights/Go Snails Go!” – July 30
“Maps/Termite Towers” – July 31
“Reindeer Games/Along Came a Spider” – August 1
“Secret Super Digger/Pucker Up and Blow” – August 2
“Amazing Eyes/Water Walkers” – August 3
“No one knew better than Fred Rogers how to connect with children,” said Bill Isler, president of The Fred Rogers Company. “And, like Fred, Daniel Tiger will visit preschoolers every day. Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood is an exciting new series with all the right elements to appeal to today’s children and families. It’s well-poised to become a much-loved classic for years to come.”
Recent research proves what Fred Rogers knew all along: social and emotional competencies are the building blocks of doing well in school and in life. 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 such as dealing with disappointment. One of the key ingredients that sets the new series apart is its groundbreaking use of catchy, musical strategies that reinforce each theme and that preschoolers and parents will both sing – and use! – together in their daily lives. Every story includes an “imagination moment” in which Daniel plays out a preschool fantasy set to music. Then, the day’s strategy is reprised in a full song at the end.
Daniel Tiger talks directly to viewers, warmly drawing them in and making them feel like one of his neighbors. The series’ stories are based on extensive input from a wide range of early learning specialists, formative research with children and the benefit of more than 40 years of the work of Fred Rogers. It all adds up to a powerful tool for parents: an entertaining and thoughtful guide for today’s families that integrates music, interactivity and a research-based curriculum.
Watch weekdays at 10am.
KCPT has partnered with Black & Veatch to bring a mentoring program to the Hickman Mills School District on engineering. The program which goes through December 11 has put an engineer in the classroom each week mentoring fifth grade students at Santa Fe Elementary and Dobbs Elementary on a variety of topics from carbon footprint, water treatment, where electricity comes from, what energy is and why it is important. The mentors have also engaged the students with fun activities relating to the topics. The goal of the program is to open up the world of engineering to the students and encourage them to consider a career path in the future.
You probably don’t realize how much time is spent trying to figure out how to pay for education in Kansas and Missouri.
Did you know for instance, that in Kansas last year, 62 percent of the entire budget went to fund schools and universities? It’s so important that even the courts have got involved setting up one of the most contentious fights in this legislative session.
But should judges be telling lawmakers how much they should be spending in the classroom? As Sam Zeff reports, its an issue you could soon be deciding at the ballot box as the clash over education funding turns into a battle over how the state picks its judges.
Lead funding of KCPT’S reporting of education issues is funded in part by a generous grant from the Kauffman Foundation and additional civic funders.
Production support provided by:
Majestic Rhinos, LLC
film & digital moving pictures
www.MajesticRhinos.com
Sure to spark a current of learning, THE ELECTRIC COMPANY is a multi-media literacy campaign charged with reducing the literacy gap between low and middle income families and advancing the idea that ‘reading is cool.’ Weekly episodes debuted nationally in 2009 and Season 3 premiered with all new episodes February 2011 on PBS KIDS GO!, the on-air and online destination designed entirely for early elementary school kids.
THE ELECTRIC COMPANY “Prankster Planet” will kick off on July 9 and feature the following episodes.
Each episode ends with a cliffhanger – offering a direct hand-off from the on-air story to a game that viewers can play online.
“The Limerick Slam” – July 9 (encore presentation on July 13)
“Fromage Here to Eternity” – July 10
“Electric Accompany” – July 11
“A Whole New Francine” – July 12
Watch July 9 – 13, 2012 at 4:30pm.
At first glance, you might not see much of a connection between the building of electric cars and at-risk, high school-aged kids, but MINDDRIVE, a Kansas City, Missouri-based non-profit, is making one. Producer Cara Myers profiles this local non-profit, where at-risk teens are not only building innovative electric vehicles, but they are also being inspired to learn and expand their vision of the future. When we’re so often told about the problems of young people, here’s a positive story for a change.
Next week on KCPT, you’ll have the rare chance to take an intimate journey inside an American high school. With unprecedented access to students and teachers, 180 Days: A Year Inside An American High School explores a public school in Washington DC, one where only 7 percent of the students are deemed proficient in math, and the dropout rate is through the roof. Kansas City school superintendent Steve Green is facing many of the same challenges, and we’ll hear his reaction to this PBS series. But first here’s a sneak peek.
The two-part series, 180 Days: A Year Inside An American High School, airs Monday, March 25 and Tuesday, March 26, 2013 at 8pm.
Watch 180 Days preview cut on PBS. See more from 180 Days.
The Kansas City Star reported this week that the head of Johnson County Community College is retiring. We’re trying to book Terry Calaway on The Local Show. Along with increased enrollment during his five year tenure, Calaway is credited with bringing a lot of novel programs to JCCC which is consistently ranked as one of the best community colleges in the country.
People no doubt have heard about the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art which was added during his watch, but also, according to the article, they’ve also now got an on-campus farm. It supplies food for the campus cafe and its culinary program. And produce grown there also is sold to the community.
It’s part of the President’s big push to be more environmentally friendly including adding sustainability programs to the curriculum at the college.
As part of a new partnership of our own here at KCPT with broadcast students at JCCC, we get to take you to the farm this week.
This segment is the work of executive producer Amy Follmer and videographers Jordan Renzelman, Matt Lepley, Elizabeth Seidel, and Josh Browning.
If you would like to get your hands dirty, learn from urban farmers or lend a hand to your local farm, there is a community event on Saturday, November 10 from nine until noon. The location is the Gibbs Road Farm at 4223 Gibbs Road in KCK. Contact ami@cultivatekc.org for details.
Every teacher knows that preparation is key, especially when it comes to final exams, culminating an entire year of learning! Before passing out your scantron forms and essay booklets, be sure to give extra attention to your class by offering the best how-to studying tips. Learn360 has just what you need to get started, so log on to Learn360.com to find hundreds of studying resources, how-to videos and preparation tips.
Get your students ready to hit the books:
Log on to Learn360.com and connect to Study Skills
Recently on the Local Show, we asked where the Garmins and the Cerners of the future would come from? We took you inside the Blue Valley School District’s 12 million dollar CAPS (Center for Advanced Professional Studies) building where the next generation of engineers and life science researchers are getting a head start while still in high school.
Believe it or not, students in the CAPS program have also created dozens of businesses and products…everything from rechargeable cell phones to a prosthetic knee brace. When the Chamber of Commerce talks about making Kansas City America’s most entrepreneurial city, is this where the next generation will come from?
Lead funding of KCPT’S reporting of education issues is funded in part by a generous grant from the Kauffman Foundation and additional civic funders.
