New interactive content and lesson plans include the PBS Digital Studios series CRASH COURSE from Hank and John Green, KQED’S ART SCHOOL, and favorites from PBS and PBS KIDS series
Arlington, VA, January 15, 2015 – PBS LearningMedia today announced that it now offers more than 100,000 digital resources available to PreK-12 educators nationwide. Since its launch in 2011, PBS LearningMedia has continued to actively expand its offerings of education content that appeals to digital native students. Resources are available in English and Spanish, and are aligned to National and Common Core State Standards.
“PBS LearningMedia is proud to have reached this milestone as we continue to increase the number of resources we have available to support educators in the classroom,” said Alicia Levi, Vice President, PBS Education. “With new content from partners like the Vlogbrothers from PBS Digital Studios and the live-action PBS KIDS series ODD SQUAD, PBS LearningMedia now offers even more high-quality, highly relevant educational content that truly engages and empowers students.”
New content is now available in all educational subject and topic areas to PreK-12 teachers and students in a variety of formats from videos and primary source documents to virtual events and maps.
Highlights include:
- CRASH COURSE: Created and developed by John and Hank Green (“the Vlogbrothers”), the PBS Digital Studios series, CRASH COURSE, provides courses on world history, U.S. history, chemistry, psychology, literature and more that have been viewed nearly 150 million times and shared by educators around the globe. The entire CRASH COURSE library, including a brand-new course on astronomy, is now available to PBS LearningMedia users through the new collection. In addition, a new course on U.S. government will be available on Friday, January 23.
- KQED’S ART SCHOOL: This unique collection of arts content from KQED in San Francisco explores a range of mediums and genres relevant to today’s student, including experimental animation, street art, app art, “scratch art,” printmaking, illustration, and sculpture. Many of the KQED’S ART SCHOOL video segments take a personalized journey as they follow artists into their studios and offer insight into the various motivators that compel these artists to create.
- ODD SQUAD: By mixing concepts like arithmetic and geometry with fantastical storytelling, ODD SQUAD, a live-action PBS KIDS series, makes math fun for kids 5-8. PBS LearningMedia offers a wide assortment of videos, lesson plans, and games from the new hit series.
- I WANNA SEE THE STATES: This new video, created in concert with rock band HelloGoodbye uses song, maps, graphics and hands-on activities to help students learn the 50 United States and territories. “I Wanna See the States,” now available exclusively on PBS LearningMedia, will get students moving to the beat, following lyrics, and working with maps.
- SPANISH CONTENT: 700 newly translated videos offer Spanish-language speakers more opportunities to interact with PBS LearningMedia. The videos span a wide range of subjects, with a focus on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The videos, including content from NOVA and Ken Burns’ The Roosevelts, offer Spanish audio and closed caption text, and can be paired with an English version, making it easy for students to toggle from one language to the other.
- MATH AT THE CORE: Produced by a collaboration of public media stations and producers, this set of 400+ interactives developed around the Common Core Standards creatively addresses key concepts in Middle School Math (grades 5-8) from ratios and functions to expressions and equations.
- PBS NEWSHOUR: This daily feature helps teachers and students stay on top of the latest national and international news stories by pairing the best of PBS NewsHour news program with classroom-ready discussion questions, lesson plans and stories. The collection offers ELA teachers with a highly relevant, journalistic approach to addressing the Writing Standards from Common Core Standards.
Educators can engage more deeply with the new content through a variety of free tools on the site including a lesson planner, quiz builder and storyboard tool. Students of any age also have the ability to interact directly with the PBS LearningMedia library of resources through the website PBSstudents.org.
About PBS LearningMedia
As America’s largest classroom, PBS offers digital content and services for teachers of children from pre-K through 12th grade that help bring classroom lessons to life. PBS LearningMedia, a partnership of PBS and WGBH Educational Foundation, is a free and paid media-on-demand service offering educators access to the best of public media and delivers research-based, classroom-ready digital learning experiences to engage students in exploring curriculum concepts that align with National and Common Core State Standards. Nationwide, more than 1.6 million teachers have registered access to more than 100,000 digital resources available through PBS LearningMedia. More information about PBS LearningMedia is available at www.pbslearningmedia.org or by following PBS LearningMedia on Twitter and Facebook.
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Media Contact:
Atiya Frederick, PBS; 703.739.5147; anfrederick@pbs.org
Meredith Gandy, 360 Public Relations; 415.610.4067; mgandy@360pr.com
