Carson City students show KNPB they are ready to learn
Kindergarten students at Empire Elementary School were treated Thursday by a visit from educators with KNPB Channel 5 in Reno. The visit was part of KNPB’s Ready To Learn workshops, which bring special learning topics into classrooms around the Reno-Sparks and Carson City areas.
Thursday's guest educators taught students about the forces of motion, KNPB Ready To Learn Facilitator Joy Foremaster said.
All of the workshops offer hands-on learning activities for students. In Mrs. Little’s kindergarten class, students listened to a story Foremaster read to them about motion, and participated in a discussion, before conducting motion experiments.
“We try our best to make learning fun,” Foremaster said. “When children are having fun, they are more engaged, focused, and retain more information.”
One of the experiments involved blowing air through a straw to move a marble. Another featured a section of plastic PVC pipe, a toy car positioned at the bottom, and different sized balls that were rolled down the tube to push the car. The object of this exercise was to demonstrate which ball moved the car the farthest.
All of the workshops conducted by KNPB Educational Services are aligned with state learning standards, KNPB Education Coordinator Karen Karst-Hoskins said.
“Lessons are aligned to Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science standards,” Karst-Hoskins said.
These lessons focus on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math), financial literacy, and English language arts standards, Karst-Hoskins added.
“We have a variety of lessons that support what the children are learning (in their classrooms),” Foremaster said.
Today is not the first time that KNPB’s Ready To Learn workshops appeared in Carson City classrooms, and it won’t be the last, either.
Forty workshops have been conducted in Carson City schools so far this academic year, Karst-Hoskins said, and more than 750 students have participated in them.
She said KNPB Education Services has plans to expand the program into even more classrooms next year.
“Teachers are embracing the KNPB Ready To Learn service,” she said. “The goal is to provide quality, engaging lessons for area students.”
More than 23,000 area students in grades Pre-K through third grade participated in 1,359 workshops last year, Karst-Hoskins said. All learning materials are supplied and an educator leads 45 to 60-minute classroom workshops.
Foremaster said the response from schools toward the KNPB Ready To Learn workshops has been very positive.
“We have great support from the schools and teachers,” she said. “They see the value in what we are doing.”
In addition to learning something fun and new today, every participating student goes home with a book, Foremaster said.
Education Services will return to Empire Elementary on Feb. 24 for another workshop.
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