Kids & Education
Vermont Public continues our partnership with Vermont Agency of Education and Vermont Department of Libraries to meet the anywhere, anytime educational, social and emotional needs of Vermont children. This page is updated monthly with timely suggestions and materials.
Latest Recommendations
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Coordinator
Lamoille North Supervisory Union
"The work of the Diversity Equity and Inclusion Coordinator at our District is a never-ending job. It is the toughest job I will ever truly love to do. As I work with the But Why Podcast team at Vermont Public I am reminded how much our youth benefit from the But Why Podcast and the vast amount of resources available to parents, community members, and youth across our wonderful state. Our engaged learners are always ready for the next big question.
Podcasts in our district have been successful and some schools have been garnering more questions from our inquisitive youth for Jane and Melody. We want to continue to allow youth to ask those inquisitive questions, and so in the month of December. Don’t forget you can submit your student’s questions to questions@butwhykids.org too! I love partnering with Vermont Public. I also love to give voice to all youth."
Learn about our Educator Ambassadors | View video testimonials from our friends Janet and Marlon as they share their stories from Burlington and Plainfield, Vermont.
Vermont PBS and Agency of Education recommend
- PBSLM: Creating a Caring Classroom Community
Molly of Denali: Indigenous Cultural and Informational Text - PBSLM: Expanding the Narrative Using Media: A Planning Kit (All Grades).
- PBSLM: Find new SEL resources for your classroom (English/Spanish) with Alma’s Way (PreK-Grade 2)
- PBSLM: Media Literacy – Teaching Students to Critically Analyze Media: Empowering Young Media Consumers and Creators
For more info, contact:
- Emily Leute (AOE) at emily.leute@vermont.gov
- Heather Duhamel (PBS) at hduhamel@vermontpbs.org
Disability Pride Month
On December 3rd we celebrate International Persons with Disabilities Day! And for this month we are sharing these great resources come from PBS Parents:
- Books that Celebrate Disability Pride Month
- Sesame Street in Communities - Autism Collection highlights beloved character, “Julia,” a person who has autism.
- Meet the Hero Elementary Character With Autism - Did you know that in the Hero Elementary program, the character, AJ Gadgets, embraces his hearing sensitivity as a super power?
Our partners at the Vermont Agency of Education also suggest, the amazing resources for inclusive education STEMIE.
Family Celebrations and Family Trip Tips!
PreK / G2
Making the Most Out of Screen Time: Conversation Starters
Directions on how to download video for co-viewing on trips
Learn with PBS Kids anywhere, anytime! - PBS Kids Learning Goals
Kindergarten to Grade 3
Incorporating Odd Squad Into Your Classroom (1-3)
Odd Squad Resources and Episode
Incorporating Peg & Cat Into Your Classroom (PreK-3)
Pet + Cat – Resources and Episode Specific Activities
Incorporating Hero Elementary into Your Classroom (PreK-2)
Hero Elementary Resources and Episode Specific Activities
PBS LearningMedia Hero Elementary Collection
Grade 6-12
Enjoy Vermont Public and MusicComp's Student Composer Showcase
PBS LearningMedia Becoming Helen Keller Collection (ASL Available)
Accessibility Matters
Spanish Audio Resources are more widely available across platforms.
Pbskids.org/video: While the video is playing (following the pre-roll, which is delivered in English audio), click the gear icon in the lower right corner of the video player. The accessibility settings menu will open. From there, you can select from the available audio and caption tracks. “Rosie’s Rules” and “Alma’s Way” have Spanish audio tracks available.
PBS KIDS mobile apps: While the video is playing, tap the gear icon shown next to the “Grownups” button. Choose captions or audio in English or Spanish.
OTT apps
Samsung & Vizio Smart TVs: This feature is not available in these apps.
tvOS/AppleTV: While the episode is playing, tap the remote to bring up the player controls. Click up to select the chat bubble or audio icon which will allow you to select from available caption and audio tracks.
Fire TV/Android TV: While the episode is playing, tap up to bring up the player controls. Tap up to select the gear icon in the upper right corner and tap to open the menu.
Roku: While the episode is playing, tap the * button. Closed caption settings are available in the “Closed captions” menu. Audio track settings are available in the “Accessibility & caption” menu under “Audio Track.”
Chromecast: Support for caption and audio language selection varies by the “Sender” client. The sender is the device from which a user is Casting.
Vermont Public Podcasts
People-powered journalism. Brave Little State, a podcast where you ask the questions, you decide what VPR investigates, and then you work with us to find the answers. With connections to other PBS LearningMedia resources.
Join VPR Classical host James Stewart on a journey into the events, characters and concepts that shaped our Western musical tradition. We'll start at the very beginning and trace the steps of music through history. This music, and its history, is ours. With Learning Guides.
But Why is a show led by you, kids! You ask the questions and we find the answers. It’s a big interesting world out there.
Curious about how to include podcasts into the classroom or car trip?
But Why is here to help with your education goals! We've created learning guides to complement our recent episodes. After listening to an episode, use the learning guide to deepen your child(ren)'s understanding of what they've learned. You can find our learning guides at the top of our episode pages. We also have transcripts and some episodes are supplemented with coloring pages, experiments or recipes!
Our learning guides were created with students in kindergarten through grade three in mind (ages 5-9) but may be appropriate for other ages. Our learning guides were designed to meet Common Core standards. Here is a handy list to all of our available guides by category.
Browse But Why Learning Guides | But Why - PBS Learning Media Collection
One Small Step is an offshoot of StoryCorps, with a focus on connecting strangers who fall on opposite sides of a political divide. VPR is one of six stations nationally that have been selected to conduct One Small Step conversations in communities across Vermont.
Mister Chris and Friends videos
The latest videos from our popular Mister Chris and Friends series, are digital shorts that guide children and their families through special daily moments: waking up, brushing teeth, washing hands, cleaning up, and going to bed. This video shorts series welcomes Elephant, a new friend who joins Mister Chris for these activities. Each video has a new original song and features a peek into lives and routines in our community thanks to participation from viewers.
“Routine helps children process what they feel, see, touch and hear each day. Our hope is that these videos help little ones engage with five special everyday moments in a time when many of their routines have been disrupted,” said Chris Dorman. “And we hope our new friend, Elephant, helps families smile, giggle, and maybe even shed a joyful tear or two together.”
These videos are available to watch in the Routine Collection.
See vermontpublic.org/show/mister-chris-and-friends, where families can watch full episodes of seasons one and two!
PBS Learning Media from Vermont Public
Bring the World to Your Classroom. Vermont Public offers curated FREE, standards-aligned videos, interactives, lesson plans, and more for educators like you.
Create a free account and access a vast amount of lessons and topics from across PBS nationally.
Local Collection: Saving our Waters
From our Saving our Waters documentary, learn about water quality in Vermont lakes. Appropriate for Middle and High School.
Local Collection: Mister Chris and Friends
From our Mister Chris and Friends series, browse various videos and interactive activities, suitable for Preschool to Grade 2.
Kids & Education on Vermont Public is proudly sponsored by...
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