02 Aug 2021 Arkansas PBS delivers more than 55,000 ‘Rise and Shine’ summer learning booklets
CONWAY — Arkansas PBS has delivered more than 55,000 summer learning Power Packets in the first four weeks of “Rise and Shine,” a six-week series of fun, educational programming designed to help K-5 students gain key knowledge between school years that aligns with Arkansas academic standards. The series continues on Arkansas PBS weekdays from 8 to 11:30 a.m. through Aug. 13.
“Rise and Shine” Power Packets are free summer activity booklets for kids that are created in both English and Spanish and designed to extend learning beyond the broadcast. Since the program began on July 6, Power Packets have been distributed to families and organizations reaching underserved children in 132 cities in 59 Arkansas counties. Additionally, during the first week, more than 5,000 summer activity bags filled with writing utensils and educational activities were delivered with the Power Packets.
Families and students across the state are encouraged to download Power Packets at myarpbs.org/riseandshine.
Each weekday, students can tune in to “Rise and Shine” for lessons led by Arkansas Teachers of the Year and featuring virtual field trips with partners across the state. Field trips for week four include:
- Little Rock Zoo to learn about how some animal species use the power of adaptation to better survive in the wild.
- Scott Family Amazeum to learn about how people can harness the energy of everyday household objects to create chain reactions.
- Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts to catch up with a puppet friend, Flurffy, and learn how the construction of the all new Museum of Fine Arts campus is progressing toward its grand opening next fall.
- Reynolds Science Center Planetarium at Henderson State University to learn how planetariums work to help people study the stars and planets in the night sky.
- Crater of Diamonds State Park to learn about the history and geology of one of the only places where people can dig for diamonds.
Field trips for week five will include:
- Little Rock Zoo to learn about keeping Arkansas a beautiful place to live.
- Mid America Science Museum to learn about bout thunderstorms by visiting their Plasma Ball and Tesla Coil.
- Arkansas School of Circus Arts to meet a real world trapeze artist and find out just what keeps them hanging around.
- Botanical Gardens of the Ozarks to see the only butterfly house in Arkansas and learn what seeds to plant in a butterfly garden.
- Arkansas Air and Military Museum to take a tour through the history of flight in Arkansas, from the first flight in Fayetteville to a hangar full of harrowing air-bound artifacts
Other original segments each week will include science with “Robbie Rocket,” nutrition information with “Zach Lunch,” fitness through dance in “Time Out With Tay,” Mr. Steve, the Music Man literacy music videos and “When I was a 5th Grader” animated shorts.
In addition to broadcast, the original Arkansas PBS educational programming is available on-demand through streaming devices, the Engage Arkansas PBS app and on the Arkansas PBS website. Families can also subscribe to the “Rise and Shine” playlist with content for K-5 students aligned to Arkansas academic standards at youtube.com/arkansaspbs. More information about the “Rise and Shine” program, including PDFs of the Power Packets to download, is available at myarpbs.org/riseandshine.
About “Rise and Shine”
Consisting of more than 100 hours of high quality programming including mini-lessons from Arkansas Teachers of the Year, “Rise and Shine” segments are grounded in the learning targets provided by the Arkansas Department of Education’s Division of Elementary and Secondary Education. With over 15 original songs, five original digital shorts, more than 30 field trip segments and dozens of mini-lesson segments featuring Arkansas teachers, much of “Rise and Shine” is locally produced. Also available are supplemental printed learning activities in both English and Spanish.
