Have you checked out Ohio on iTunes U yet?

Attention educators, teachers, and curriculum directors out there - have you checked out Ohio on iTunes U yet? If not, you really should!
CET features several funded multimedia projects on Ohio on iTunes U, including Vertices: Geometry Meets Art, Fitness Fanatic, and Joel’s Library Jam.
So, you might be asking, what is Ohio on iTunes U? Here is a brief description at http://www.apple.com/education/mobile-learning/:

“iTunes U, part of the iTunes Store, is possibly the world’s greatest collection of free educational media available to students, teachers, and lifelong learners. With over 200,000 educational audio and video files available, iTunes U* has quickly become the engine for the mobile learning movement. It puts the power of the iTunes Store in the hands of qualifying universities so they can distribute their educational media to their students or to the world.”

An Introduction to iTunes U
Watch the video

Also, take a moment to peruse the other offerings from Ohio on iTunes U, including ThinkTV Educational Services, Cincinnati Public Radio, and WOUB – Ohio University, just to name a few other Ohio organizations with content there. There is such a wide array of teaching tools, instructional media, and supplemental education material there that you will likely find just about any topic you are searching for.
You don’t even need to have an iPod or an iPhone to use iTunes and take advantage of these offerings – you can simply download the iTunes software for free to your desktop, visit the iTunes store, and find iTunes U at the very bottom of the page. Once you are in iTunes U, choose "Ohio" at the right and start checking out all the offerings. The video will play using iTunes software, which makes this very easy to use!
-Amanda

Right Tools for the Job

You can’t escape the negative economic news. Your students can’t either. The fortunate ones are aware of the belt-tightening going on in their home but aren’t feeling the pinch too badly. It is a story they hear in the background on the evening news or see as a headline in the daily newspaper. The less lucky ones are feeling the direct impact of a job loss or a home foreclosure on their family. They are sensing the anxiety and trying to understand what is going on around them.

Teachers see the need to help their students better understand the social and geopolitical implications caused by the local, national and international shockwaves of the economic tumult of today. They also see the need to create a historical perspective by exploring the last worldwide economic meltdown of the 1930’s, known as the Great Depression.

To help meet that need, CET has brought together many useful digital multimedia resources and organized them on the Internet for your classroom use. On our Learn About Our Economy webpage, you’ll find video segments from our Producing Ohio multimedia curriculum kit and links back to the Producing Ohio website where you’ll find lesson plans, a standards correlation chart and more resources appropriate for the middle school classroom. On our Economic and Financial Literacy webpage, you’ll find a wide array of video and text resources for use with teens and young adults.

- Diane

Celebrate Excellence 2009

For more than 90 years, the Hamilton County Educational Service Center (HCESC) has provided the public school districts in Hamilton County with numerous services related to special education, as well as professional development for teachers and administrators. HCESC focuses on innovation by bringing together educational best practices and leading-edge knowledge to serve 150,000 students and 10,000 educators in Southwest Ohio. The staff of nearly 500 education professionals emphasizes quality processes and proven implementation experience with a constant focus on what’s best for children. The result is better use of resources, better schools, better teaching, better learning, better students.

As the non-profit fundraising arm of the HCESC, the Hamilton County Education Foundation provides an annual scholarship to a teacher returning to school at the University of Cincinnati as well as a teacher returning to Xavier University for their Masters in Special Education. These scholarships are directly addressing the national shortage of special education teachers – in a sense the Foundation is “growing its own.”

The annual “Celebrate Excellence” event is the Foundation’s main fundraiser recognizing the “Educators of the Year” from more than twenty public school districts in Hamilton County. The event is unique in that it brings K-12 education, university, business and civic leaders together to pay tribute to this impressive group. Anthony Munoz, president of his own education foundation, (http://www.munozfoundation.org/) serves as Master of Ceremonies. The 2009 keynote address was presented by the Ohio Department of Education’s Senior Associate Superintendent for Educational Programs Marilyn Troyer.

The Foundation – like our business, culture and arts communities – hopes that by providing scholarships and recognizing our local educators, more of them will choose to live and work here. Characteristically uncomfortable in the spotlight – not uncommon for those who are called to their profession - educators focus on the success of their kids. Celebrate Excellence honors these dedicated individuals who daily serve as parent, priest, friend, advisor, protector, confidant, and teacher to our children. Their superintendent gives them the day off. They get to hang with Anthony Munoz. And best of all, they get to hear what their nominator says about them.
· “She has stretched the boundaries of education, teaching us not only how to sing but to be good people.”
· “The words ‘no’, ‘impossible,’ and ‘I don’t have time’ do not exist in his vocabulary.”
· “I plan on majoring in education, and she is the teacher that I am trying to model myself after.”

There is no greater praise for those who answer the call.

- Submitted by Robyn Carey Allgeyer

Veterans in our midst

To too many of us, Veterans Day is just another day off from school or from work. Or a day when our trash isn’t picked up or our mail isn’t delivered. Far too many of us give little thought to the sacrifices made by the men and women who have served in the armed forces, especially those who served abroad during times of conflict. The families of those veterans who didn’t come home or that came home with visible or invisible scars made sacrifices that often went unnoticed as well.

So, if many of us do not grasp the importance of our veterans’ contributions to our country, how can we effectively pass the story along to our children? How can we help them understand the true cost to the individual yet see how their collective dedication and selflessness has ensured our country’s survival?

Glen Grundei, now a retired teacher from Winton Woods City Schools, saw the need to teach his students more about World War II than the few paragraphs included in their history textbook. He wanted them to know more than some dates and names and locations. He wanted them to know something about the human side of the war. He wanted them to hear the stories, see the faces, and read the letters. So he built the Hall of Heroes in Winton Woods Primary North School .

While still teaching at Winton Woods Primary North, Mr. Grundei began collecting donations of artifacts from World War II veterans to become part of a permanent exhibit that could be used to help his students better understand the global conflict by learning more about the individuals who experienced it. Even after his retirement a few years ago, Mr. Grundei continued to maintain and connect the precious collection of personal items in the Hall of Heroes with students at Winton Woods Primary North and the larger community beyond.

You can visit the Hall of Heroes virtually (http://www.cetconnect.org/Education/Education.aspx) to see and learn more about the many veterans who have shared a bit of themselves and their story so that future generations would better understand our history.

Thank You!

- Diane

New Study Shows PBS Educational Content and Interactive Games Increase Literacy

There was a new study conducted by researchers at the Education Development Center, Inc. and SRI International which shows that preschoolers who participated in "media-rich literary curriculum" from the popular PBS Kids programs Super Why!, Between the Lions, and Sesame Street were better prepared for their first year of school than those children who did not participate. This is proof positive of the educational impact of PBS programming and interactive media on children, making them better able to find success in the classroom at the earliest, most formative stage of learning.

Here is an excerpt from this important announcement from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB):

“This study underscores the important and unprecedented work that the Ready To Learn initiative has accomplished by teaching these children the skills they will need to succeed in life,” said Pat Harrison, president and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). CPB congratulates the producers, the teachers and caregivers, station staff and their community partners who have made the Ready To Learn initiative the success that it is today.”

Read more from the announcement here, or to find out more about the study, visit the Center for Children and Technology website @ http://cct.edc.org/ready_to_learn.asp

You can introduce children, especially 2-8-year-olds, to the content and games observed in this study at the websites for Super Why!, Between the Lions, and Sesame Street so they can be Ready to Learn in the classroom.

C is for Cookie!

“C is for cookie, that’s good enough for me,
C is for cookie, that’s good enough for me,
C is for cookie, that’s good enough for me.
Oh, cookie, cookie, cookie starts with C.”

Many years ago, I remember watching opera singer Marilyn Horne, dressed as Cleopatra, singing this song on a Sesame Street episode. That little jingle immediately implanted itself deep in my brain and periodically resurfaced, resulting in my aesthetically-lacking but heartfelt warbling ode to cookies. When my daughters were preschoolers and I again could indulge in guilt-free viewing of Sesame Street, I was ecstatic when the “C is for Cookie” segment came along and I could join in with gusto. My daughters, now teenagers, roll their eyes for dramatic effect when I burst into song about cookies but I don’t let that stop me.

Believe it or not, Sesame Street celebrates it’s 40th anniversary on Nov. 10. 40 years of making learning fun for preschoolers and their parents. 40 years of demonstrating the educational power of television. 40 years of feeling at home in an ethnically-diverse urban neighborhood.

Join in and wallow in the fun of celebrating 40 years of Sesame Street.

- Diane

Sid is quite the science kid!

Have you ever met Sid? You know, Sid the Science Kid? He is one of the newer kids on the PBS Kids block. Sid and his friends are curious preschoolers who learn about how the world around them works by using science to help them explore. Surrounded by supportive adults who encourage their curiosity, Sid and his friends start with a question and work their way toward an answer.

While kids learn more about science and exploration when they watch Sid the Science Kid on CET or visit his website online, there is plenty of great stuff for parents and teachers as well. In the Parents & Teachers portion of the website, you’ll find information about the series and characters your children see in each episode. More importantly, there are overviews of the “big picture” science ideas that are built into each weekly set of shows that help you better understand what you’re child will be exploring with Sid. There are also Activities and Resources that help you bring the hands-on learning into your home or preschool.

The producers of Sid the Science Kid go even further to bring fun and learning into your child’s life. They have produced a special show about flu season. Getting a Shot: You Can Do It! premieres on Monday, October 26, and repeats multiple times throughout November and December. There is a weekly set of shows airing now that help parents plan and host a science play date for kids. For those who want to take learning everywhere they go, there is an easy-to-use iPhone app that lets kids share their questions and ideas just like Sid shares with his trusty toy microphone.

Check out Sid and his friends at 8:30am each day on CET.

- Diane

Creative Thinking

Are your students “cutting and pasting” content from the web and presenting it as their own work? Have you noticed the headlines about students file sharing music on the web such as a student recently court ordered to pay $675,000!

To support educators and librarians, Northern Kentucky University (NKU) offers free online lessons, films, and activities on plagiarism and copyright awareness as part of a new educational multimedia project called Creative Thinking. Creative Thinking provides everything needed to present engaging content for teens & young adults. The lessons promote research honesty & copyright consciousness. Both ethical & legal discussions are presented. There is even an amusing intellectual property personality quiz based on the popular Simpson’s television characters.

Want to learn more about how to use Creative Thinking in the classroom? See CET’s video tutorial for educators.

We encourage your feedback! Take a look at the films, lessons, and activities on the Creative Thinking site. Let us know what you think and if you have any successful teaching tips to share. Watch this blog for future discussions about plagiarism and copyright challenges in the classroom.

Creative Thinking was funded by a grant from the Cincinnati Bar Foundation and includes collaborative community support from NKU, CET, Kentucky Virtual Library (KYVL), University of Louisville, Campbell County KY Public Library, and other regional partners.

- John Schlipp
Guest Blogger

All Aboard!

Dinosaurs and trains. Can it get any better for most preschoolers? Imagine an adorable preschool-age Tyrannosaurus Rex riding a colorful train on an exciting voyage through prehistoric jungles, swamps, volcanoes and oceans. That is the premise of Dinosaur Train, a new CGI-animated series.

Now, as a parent or teacher of a young child, imagine how excited you’ll be when you see how Dinosaur Train helps your child learn more about natural science, natural history and paleontology. Each 30-minute episode takes kids on a trip to explore our world during the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Dinosaur Train airs on CET at 9:30am and 3pm.

But wait, there’s more! Dinosaur Train also has an interactive website. Children can discover natural history and paleontology through fun games and activities. Parents and teachers of young children can also find resources and activities that build on the learning experience.

All aboard the Dinosaur Train!

- Diane

Ring-a-ling-ling

What’s that noise? Is that the school bell I hear? Why, yes, I believe it is. Teachers and students around Cincinnati are heading back to the classroom. Kids will be sharing stories of their summer vacation trips, sharing details about their new clothes or haircuts, and sharing their excitement about new teachers and classmates.

However, everything they share is not good. When kids are in prolonged close contact like they are in the classroom, germs and bacteria are shared too. They breathe the same air, touch the same chairs and desks, eat their lunches at the same cafeteria tables and use the same restrooms. Colds and viruses begin making the rounds.

In collaboration with Cincinnati Public Schools, CET taped a series of professional development videos featuring local health officials, health care professionals and public health sanitarians whose goals are to help ensure safe and healthy school environments. In these videos, they share important information that will help administrators, teachers and parents help kids minimize the spread of germs and bacteria while at school.

Visit our Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools webpage to learn more.

- Diane

Reading Rainbow coming to the end of its long run

When CET changes its kids programming line-up for Fall, one mainstay of PBS Kids programming will be noticeably missing. I’m referring to Reading Rainbow. It’s sad, but true - the end of watching Reading Rainbow on PBS with your kids is official: the rights expire on August 28, 2009. You’ll no longer be able to tune into Reading Rainbow on CET or any of the other local public television stations after this date. For more information and details check out an article at Current.org, the public media news website.

There is no official word yet on the status of the Reading Rainbow Young Writers and Illustrators Contest, but the Current.org article gives the most up to date information available. What do you think? Will you be sad about the absence of Reading Rainbow on TV? Would you be crushed if the contest fell by the wayside as well?

For the time being, you can watch episodes of Reading Rainbow on CET Kids (Time Warner Cable channel 931) weekdays at 10am, 2pm, 6pm, and 10pm and on Saturdays at 6am. Tape these episodes while you can!

-Amanda

Another Tool in the Toolkit

Are you looking for a fun and effective way to teach your students about fractals? Maybe you would like to help them better understand the tough economic times our world is going through now by learning more about the Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression? Or you might be interested in leading them in an exploration of the arts as a universal language that belongs to all mankind?

No matter what subject you teach, what age range of students you work with, or where you teach, PBS Teachers brings you a multitude of multimedia teaching tools that will help you reach all the learners in your classroom. Video, audio, interactive online activities, discussion starters and cross-curricular standards-based lesson plans are available at no cost. You can search for PBS programs by title and then find the related educators’ materials or you can search by subject area and then find PBS programs that help you teach the concept.

As you approach a new school year, check out PBS Teachers and find some new tools for your toolkit.

- Diane

Good Information!

Librarians are the guardians of information in our society. Do you have a question? Talk to your librarian. He or she may not know the right answer but they sure do know where to start looking for it. If you are a teacher or a student, obviously you go to your school media specialist. Just like the librarian at your local neighborhood branch library, your school media specialist has many resources at his or her disposal that will yield up the answer you are looking for.

As information specialists, librarians are in the business of identifying and using current high quality information resources in both print and electronic formats. Recently, the American Association of School Librarians released their list of Landmark Websites for Teaching and Learning. The websites that made this list have “exemplary histories of authoritative, dynamic content and curricular relevance. They are free, web-based sites that are user friendly and encourage a community of learners to explore and discover and provide a foundation to support 21st-century teaching and learning.”

Among this list is PBS Teachers. PBS Teachers is noted for their standards-based and cross-curricular resources that connect to both on-air and online PBS programming.

Visit PBS Teachers now and be ready for a new school year!

- Diane

Make Learning Active and Fun

Every teacher worth his or her salt knows that the best way to make sure students really grasp a concept or master a skill is to actively involve them in the learning experience. If students are left to sit still and listen, their minds are likely to become as inactive as their bodies. If they talk and move and experiment with ideas during the learning experience, their minds often move as quickly as their bodies.

PBS Teachers know that too. So they’ve created a collection of interactive SMART Board games on PBS Kids that you can use in your classroom with pre-kindergarten through fifth grade students. The collection includes interactive games in language arts, math, social studies, science and the arts. All of the games include bright graphics that can be manipulated with simple mouse clicks and audio clips that help guide students through the activities. Every game encourages students to experiment and provides feedback that lets them know how they are doing.

Before school starts, visit PBS Teachers and play some of these games yourself. Have fun and think about how you can help your students learn while they have fun with these games too.

- Diane

Raising Readers

In my last blog, I wrote about summer reading options available through PBS Kids programming and at your local Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County branch. But let’s not stop there. Let’s look at more of the resources PBS makes available to parents and caregivers all year round to help you raise a reader.

PBS’ Raising Readers website has many tips and tricks that will help you turn reading into something fun and easy to do everyday. There are printable color or black and white coupons you can use to encourage your child to keep on reading. The Daily Reading Activity Calendar has a fresh idea everyday for a reading activity for you and your child.

The Reading & Books area includes online resources to help you find just the right book for your child. Expert advice from children’s book lovers and librarians will help guide you too. Best of all, the Reading & TV area has resources that help you make the connection between the educational PBS Kids programs that your kids already love to watch and reading.

The PBS Kids Island area offers multiple interactive online games for kids to practice their budding language arts skills.

Visit the Raising Readers website today!

-Diane

Fill summer days with books

How do you keep kids flexing their academic skills during the summer months? How do you keep their minds active? Reading, of course! There are many options for kids and parents who want to fill their summer with stories.

Super WHY! is a PBS Kids series designed to help young children preparing for kindergarten learn the very important pre-literacy skills they need to succeed in school. The series helps kids develop concepts and skills that include alphabet skills, word families, spelling, comprehension and vocabulary. In each episode, young viewers are invited to join in and help solve problems using their language arts skills. To help extend and enrich the reading experience for kids, Super WHY! is helping parents encourage their kids to read and be read to with the Super WHY! Right On Read-a-thon. Downloadable resources including a reading list, progress chart, bookmark and a Super Duper Reading Certificate are available online.

The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County is bringing great books and fun programs to your neighborhood branch with the Creature Feature. This year’s summer reading program includes games, programs and prizes for kids, teens and adults. Watch their video invitation to get involved.

- Diane

And the Teacher becomes the Student

Summer is almost here! Teachers everywhere are eagerly anticipating a break from the classroom just as much as their students are. However, we know that summer is when many teachers become students again as they pursue their required continuing education.

PBS Teachers is delighted to have technology integration specialists Bob Sprankle, Alice Barr and Cheryl Oakes as guests for "Summertime and Your Personal Learning Network," the next webinar in the PBS Teachers LIVE! series.

In this webinar, these guests will discuss the value of online collaboration and provide guidance for those interested in joining or creating a professional development community during the summer months. They will share their own experiences of expanding their knowledge and improving their practice through online conferences, social networks, and other collaborative technologies. In addition, they will demonstrate tools and best practices to promote technology integration in K-12 classrooms.

Please mark your calendars for Tuesday, June 2 at 8 p.m. EDT for this upcoming free webinar. Recent archived webinars and information about upcoming webinars is available on the PBS Teachers website.

- Diane

Let’s hear it for our young authors!

CET recognized many of the young Cincinnati-area authors who submitted their original stories and illustrations for the 15th Annual Reading Rainbow Young Writers & Illustrators Contest. A reception in their honor in the CET lobby allowed families as well as CET staff to show their support for these budding young authors. A video featuring the four grade level winners is now available online. Some of CET’s past winners are featured online too.

CET’s four winning stories are now in consideration for the national contest judging. We wish our young authors the best and we hope to announce one of them as a national winner later this summer.

- Diane

Let’s hear from you

The countdown has begun. Teachers and students across Southwest Ohio are counting down the days until summer break. Term papers and final exams are on everyone’s minds and the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer are just a few weeks away.

However, here in the Learning Services department, we’re thinking ahead to next year already. Like many non-profit educational organizations, we’re working hard to find the best balance between our limited resources and the high-quality educational resources and services you’ve come to expect from us. This is where you come into the picture.

In order to allocate our human and financial resources in the most efficient and effective way possible, we need to hear from you. We need to know which of our services you use and how we can do them better. We want to know the needs that exist in your classroom and get your feedback on how we can use our instructional technology services to help you meet those needs. Below are a few of the questions we’d like your help in answering:

Do you use instructional television in your classroom?
Do you get your instructional video over the air, by cable/satellite or online?
Do you use web-based instructional resources?
Do you have access to Time Warner Cable service in your school and/or classroom?
What content areas or topics do you think are underrepresented with multimedia curriculum resources?

Call me at 513-345-6545 or email me to let me know more about your instructional needs and how we can help you meet them.

- Diane

The more things change,...

When CET went on the air on July 26, 1954, only 500 television sets could even receive the signal. The first program was a 30-minute program called Tel-A-Story and it featured an adult sharing a story with several children. Closely tied to Cincinnati Public Schools in those early days, CET’s primary mission was to provide high quality educational programming for classroom use. As the first licensed educational television station in the nation, CET became a valuable resource to schools across Greater Cincinnati.

On Friday, May 1, at 12:01am, CET will turn off our analog broadcast signal after nearly 55 years of service to the educational community. However, CET will continue to provide instructional television to schools and homes in many ways. There will be over 20 hours of instructional television broadcast via our digital signal and over 600 hours cablecast on selected Time Warner Cable channels every month September through May. Around 50 new video segments, created in conjunction with area in-service teachers, will be available for 24/7 streaming from CETconnect.org. CET will provide on-demand scheduling and duplication of licensed instructional programming for schools and home schools. CET will continue to collaborate with community partners to create standards-based multimedia curriculum kits for use in PreK-12 classrooms.

So while one era comes to an end, another continues. CET will continue to be the first choice of educational programming and instructional media in Greater Cincinnati.



-Diane

Drumroll please….

CET is pleased to announce the local winners of the 15th Annual Reading Rainbow Young Writers’ & Illustrators Contest. Nearly 120 children in kindergarten through third grades from all across Greater Cincinnati submitted their original stories and illustrations this year. We received stories about aliens and best friends, sports and weather, holidays and summer vacations. After carefully considering the many creative and entertaining original stories and illustrations, winners and honorable mentions were selected at all four grade levels and are now listed online.

The four local 1st Place winning stories will be featured in a video on CETconnect.org in June and will also go on to compete at the national level. CET thanks The Wohlgemuth Herschede Foundation for their generous support of this year’s contest.

CET congratulates these budding young local authors!

We would like to thank teachers for bringing us into your schools and making the 15th Annual Reading Rainbow Young Writers’ & Illustrators Contest a part of classroom assignments.

- Diane

Talk, Listen, Connect

Political conflicts that require the presence of the brave men and women of our military have been a challenge for thousands of families for some years now. While every family that has to say goodbye and then prays each day for the safe return of a member experiences some trauma, it is the most difficult for families with young children.

Young children have trouble understanding why daddy or mommy is going away and why they have to be gone for so long. They may wonder what they did to make their parent go away and will they ever come back. In the best case scenarios, a parent will only be gone for a short time and will come back largely unscathed from their dangerous duty abroad. Sometimes, parents come back with physical or psychological scars that may never heal. In the worst case scenarios, parents don’t come back at all and families have to begin creating a “new normal.”

On Wednesday, April 1, CET will broadcast a special program from the Sesame Workshop, creators of the landmark series, Sesame Street, designed to help parents and caregivers of young children information and support to help deal with the deployments, homecomings and changes that are part and parcel of military duty today. “Talk, Listen, Connect: Deployments, Homecomings, Changes” will feature the familiar furry characters children know as they deal with parents going to or coming from serving their country away from home. An accompanying website offers streamable video and corollary materials for use in homes and preschools. Special attention is paid to families that have to create a “new normal” after circumstances change them forever.

If you or someone you know is dealing with the challenge of helping a young child and a family navigate the difficulty of a separation due to military duty, please consider using this resource.

- Diane

National or not?

If you pay any attention to education news, you’ve no doubt heard the recent chatter about national education standards. With just a few keystrokes at your favorite Internet search engine, you can find many news articles and blog entries with many different viewpoints on the subject. Standards are important. Otherwise, how would we have consistent learning occurring in fourth grade classrooms throughout a school or a district? How would we ensure that students are learning accurate and developmentally appropriate concepts and skills? Standards are the signposts that teachers use to guide their students on the journey of learning.

Across Ohio, not only are educators focused on creating lessons and learning opportunities based on Ohio Academic Content Standards, so are educational organizations like CET that work closely with educators to create multimedia instructional resources for classroom use. We need the standards to guide us toward creating resources that support what is being taught in the classroom.

But national standards? Is there a good reason to scrap the existing state standards for a “one size fits all” approach? On the other hand, isn’t it a good idea to make sure that all kids are learning the same concepts and skills?

No matter which side of this fence you’re on, there is no easy answer.

- Diane

It’s a wonderful day in the neighborhood

Do you remember that gentle friendly man in the cardigan sweater who asked you to be his neighbor? For more than 40 years on public television, Mister Rogers came through the door, changed to his sweater and sneakers with his invitation in song: “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” Fred Rogers dedicated his life to serving children through public television as host of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. His innovative approach and sincere respect for his young viewers and their parents helped him become known as “America’s favorite neighbor.”

Even though Fred Rogers is no longer with us, his spirit lives on. “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” Day has grown from a one-time event in Pittsburgh’s into an annual national event. It started as a recognition of Fred Rogers’ birthday on March 20th in a way that reflected his deep appreciation of what it means to be a neighbor. Everyone is encouraged to wear a sweater and celebrate what it means to be a neighbor on his birthday, March 20th. Put on your favorite sweater this Friday and celebrate the people in your neighborhood.

CALLING ALL YOUNG AUTHORS!

“Butterfly in the sky, I can go twice as high
Take a look, it's in a book - Reading Rainbow.”

These lyrics from the theme song of the long-running PBS program Reading Rainbow are bright reminders of the joy of reading to millions of us who have watched the program over the years.

The 15th Annual Reading Rainbow Young Writers & Illustrators contest is coming. Kindergarten- through third-grade students all around Greater Cincinnati will begin composing and drawing, editing and coloring. Their original creations will be judged locally by a panel of school librarians, public library children’s librarians and primary grade teachers. The winning story at each grade level will then be forwarded for judging at the national level. More information about the contest, including downloadable rules and entry forms, are available. The 15th Annual Reading Rainbow Young Writers & Illustrators contest is sponsored locally by The Wohlgemuth Herschede Foundation. Watch Time Warner Cable channel 17 at 12:30pm each weekday for Reading Rainbow.

- Diane

HEY YOU GUUUUUYYYYS!

How many of us remember those words blaring from our televisions back in the 1970’s? It was calling us to plug in to the Electric Company for more learning disguised as fun with really cool characters. There was Fargo North, Decoder; J. Arthur Crank; Millie the Helper; and, my personal favorite, Easy Reader. We explored letters and words and felt as cool as Morgan Freeman looked in his brown denim jacket and sunglasses when he slinked across the television screen. A quick visit to YouTube will refresh your memory if it has dimmed.

The Electric Company is not a long-lost piece of the past anymore. Its back and delivers a jolt of literacy for a whole new generation of emerging readers. The new series is designed to combat the literacy crisis America’s youngsters are facing with 35 half-hour episodes for today’s media-driven generation with a truly interactive experience. The new version of the Electric Company is a multimedia literacy campaign aiming to reduce the literacy gap between low and middle income families and advancing the idea that ‘reading is cool.’ The show will be supplemented with a richly interactive online environment.

The cast of characters of the Electric Company is a group of do-gooders, stationed from their home base, The Electric Diner, who keep the neighborhood safe with their literacy superpowers and solve problems often created by a group of troublemakers called “The Pranksters.” The new version of the Electric Company’s curricular goals include decoding, comprehension of connected text, vocabulary and motivation. These goals are incorporated into the show with vocabulary focusing on specific kid friendly themes such as: the body, animals, games and space.

The new web site invites kids to experience the world of the Electric Company within an interactive environment. The web site blends elements of popular kid-friendly internet applications that encourage kids to create, share, and rate each others' video creations and decorate their own profile pages. Kids will also be able to play educational games, based on the curriculum featured in each episode. The site will stream full episodes that will have aired the day before on TV and web exclusive behind the scenes segments. In addition, extensive downloadable outreach materials will be available to support the TV series and supplement the curriculum that parents, caregivers and teachers will be encouraged to use.

The series airs on CET at 5pm on Fridays. Turn on a new youngster to the Electric Company.

- Diane

Historic Inauguration Day

Tuesday, January 20, 2009, will be an historic day. Not only will our nation see the inauguration of a new president, we’ll see the inauguration of our first black president. The crowds in Washington are expected to be overwhelming. You can’t take your students there to see it in person. So CET will bring it all to your classroom.

Beginning at 11am, Jim Lehrer anchors PBS’ inauguration coverage, which includes political analysis and historical context. PBS plans to include coverage of Barack Obama’s arrival at the White House, excerpts of the church service and Obama’s speech to the nation from the Capitol steps. Coverage will continue until 2pm.

On the night of Barack Obama's historic inauguration, FRONTLINE will examine the personal and political biography of the 44th president of the United States. “Dreams of Obama” will air from 9-10 pm. Visit the FRONTLINE website for more information

Later that night, Tavis Smiley will look back at Barack Obama's six appearances on the show, dating back to his days as a little-known Illinois state senator. Also featured will be Obama’s appearance on the day after his speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. In addition to this archival material, TAVIS SMILEY will air excerpts of the inaugural address.

Other programming will air on CET in the days before and after Obama’s inauguration. Check our TV Schedule for more information.

For those who get their news and entertainment online, the Online NewsHour will produce an inauguration page that includes live, streaming video of PBS and THE NEWSHOUR’s inauguration coverage.

- Diane

Looking for Lincoln # 3

As promised in an earlier blog, here is more information about the National Lincoln Teach-In, which is scheduled for Thursday, February 12, at 1:30 pm from the National Archives in Washington, DC and features Lincoln scholars Matthew Pinsker and Harold Holzer. Teachers and students nationwide can tune in to view this FREE LIVE webcast online. The program is recommended for middle through high school, and the website has study guides to use before or after the webcast. Register now for this FREE event.

Here’s another Lincoln resource I’ve come across. The website My Hero.com has a resource-rich page devoted to the Lincoln Bicentennial.

Bottom line, with all the available resources, teachers would have to struggle to come up with a valid excuse NOT to do something for this Lincoln Bicentennial! Resistance is futile!

- Karen