CBS

April 20, 9 p.m. ET/PT.

This Hallmark Hall of Fame drama features Jeff Daniels and Marlee Matlin as a couple facing an unusual situation. Their child, born with normal hearing, becomes deaf at an early age. The mother learns to accept the loss because she has been deaf all her life. However, her husband begins to wonder if a cochlear implant operation might improve his son's hearing.

The debate about implants, with impassioned voices on both sides, has been in the public square for years; here is a thoughtful dramatization of what some families actually experience.

KIDSNET, partnering with educators and the media for more than 25 years, provided these viewing suggestions. Visit www.kidsnet.org.

PBS

April 9, 9 p.m. ET/PT. Check Local Listings.

Zora Neale Hurston, a daughter of former slaves, was an important writer and cultural anthropologist during the era of the Harlem Renaissance. Her life and experiences with Langston Hughes, Richard Wright, and many others are chronicled. Though Hurston died unknown by the reading public, today she is considered essential to the American canon, thanks in part to the efforts of Pulitzer Prize-winning author and poet Alice Walker.

KIDSNET, partnering with educators and the media for more than 25 years, provided these viewing suggestions. Visit www.kidsnet.org.

National Geographic Channel

April 13, 9 a.m. ET/PT.

This is an environmental impact statement on a grand scale. Just in time for Earth Day, ABC's Elizabeth Vargas does a monumental "follow"—charting the consumption of one American from cradle to grave. A staggering list of consumables is catalogued for a typical U.S. lifetime (77 years, 9 months), from gasoline to coffee, food, diapers, even toothbrushes. And yes, it all ends up in the landfills, another site on this eco-tour. The special also tells us how to consume differently, and how to make a smaller footprint.

Find ideas and activities at www.ngchumanfootprint.com and at www.preserveourplanet.com.

KIDSNET, partnering with educators and the media for more than 25 years, provided these viewing suggestions. Visit www.kidsnet.org.

National Geographic Channel

April 9–10, 6 a.m. ET/PT.

Using computer graphics, this two-part presentation on Egypt focuses on the architectural achievements made more than two thousand years before the Romans. The temples and canals were made without much more than brain power and brawn—but the course of ancient history can be traced by looking at these fortresses and pyramids. This 21st century analysis will help students see antiquity with fresh eyes.

KIDSNET, partnering with educators and the media for more than 25 years, provided these viewing suggestions. Visit www.kidsnet.org.

National Geographic Channel

March 13, 20 & 27 at 8 p.m. ET/PT

Engineer Marshall Brain, author of How Stuff Works, translates his passion for "stuff" into an upbeat new TV series. As tour guide, Brain focuses on things made in America, showing how workers and state-of-the-art machines create objects of desire and fascination.

This three-part series begins with a visit to Trek Bikes in Wisconsin to explore how their road bike is made from the same lightweight, super strong material used to make stealth bombers. The second episode features factories making speedboats and golf balls, and finishes at the famous Zambelli fireworks company. In episode three, he examines how cars, airbags, and money are made.

For more, go to www.nationalgeographic.com.

KIDSNET, partnering with educators and the media for more than 25 years, provided these viewing suggestions. Visit www.kidsnet.org.

PBS/Independent Lens

March 18 at 10 p.m., ET. Check Local Listings

In 2006, following decades of civil war, the Republic of Liberia elected Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf as president, making this 60-something grandmother the first woman to lead an African country. As Johnson-Sirleaf and her team of women appointees set about rebuilding and re-democratizing their country, filmmaker Daniel Junge followed to see if a gender shift could affect change.

The Iron Ladies, as they are called, have made an impact, thought it's been slow going. The new president's most important achievements have been in restructuring the country's debt, but citizens of the capital, Monrovia, might be more impressed that their Number One Iron Lady has restored electricity to the city.

More information can be found at www.pbs.org/ironladies.

KIDSNET, partnering with educators and the media for more than 25 years, provided these viewing suggestions. Visit www.kidsnet.org.

PBS/Independent Lens

March 24 & 25, 9 p.m. ET/PT. Check Local Listings

On the fifth anniversary of the 2003 Iraq invasion, Frontline presents a two-part update with fresh analysis from producer Michael Kirk, who produced Cheney's War and The Torture Question.

Kirk says, "No one has laid out the entire narrative to reveal, in one epic story, the scope and detail of how this war began and how it has been fought, both on the ground and deep inside the government." Frontline has closely followed this story since before the invasion, and has collected a wealth of video data.

Find more information at www.pbs.org and www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline.

KIDSNET, partnering with educators and the media for more than 25 years, provided these viewing suggestions. Visit www.kidsnet.org.

C-Span

Sundays at 6:30 p.m. ET/PT

C-Span is doing its civic best to engage students and voters alike with pre-convention programming. If you and your students can't get enough of the Sunday Road show—a weekly summary of life on the campaign trail—go to the Web site at www.c-span.org.

On alternating weeks, American Politics looks at the electoral process as well as other political issues. And C-Span's bus tour is on the campaign trail, stopping at schools to explain the campaign. More information is available at www.campaignnetwork.org and www.c-spanclassroom.org, a membership service to teachers.

KIDSNET, partnering with educators and the media for more than 25 years, provided these viewing suggestions. Visit www.kidsnet.org.

CBS

Saturday Mornings (Check Local Listings)

In the Saturday morning line-up of children's television, it often seems difficult to find programs that earn their "educational" rating, but Sushi Pack, an animated series featuring animated sushi, does so with hard-to-miss pro-social messages packed into a crime-fighting scenario with minimal violence and lots of good humor. The educational messages include teamwork, cooperation, conflict resolution, and good nutrition.

There is a companion Web site at www.agkidzone.com/sushipack.action.

KIDSNET, partnering with educators and the media for more than 25 years, provided these viewing suggestions. Visit www.kidsnet.org.

The History Channel

Multi-Episode Series Begins at 6 a.m. (Check Local Listings)

• February 11—Washington to Monroe, 1789–1825
• February 12—John Q. Adams to Polk, 1825–1850
• February 13—Taylor to Lincoln, 1850–1865
• February 14—Andrew Johnson to Arthur, 1865–1885
• February 18—Cleveland to Taft, 1885–1913
• February 19—Wilson to FDR, 1913–1945
• February 20—Truman to Ford, 1945–1977
• February 21—Carter to George W. Bush, 1975–Present

In a presidential election year, The History Channel provides historical context with this presentation. Each program shows the human side of the presidents, their personal strengths and weaknesses, their families, the historical events that defined their administrations, and how their responses affected the direction of the country. Today's students will have at least some personal knowledge of the more recent events of the final episode, which ends with scholars speculating on what the second term of George W. Bush will be like. As that final term winds down, this episode should make for interesting discussions.

KIDSNET, partnering with educators and the media for more than 25 years, provided these viewing suggestions. Visit www.kidsnet.org.

National Geographic Channel

February 10, 8 p.m. ET

"Something's happening. Something big." Field guide Finn Siegstad gets our attention fast and keeps it in this program on climate change. Experts highlight easy-to-see evidence that requires us to take seriously the startling theory that Earth's averate temperature could rise six degrees Celsius by the year 2100. Six Degrees reveals how each potential degree affects the planet—from the bottom of the deepest oceans to the tops of the highest mountains.

Actor Alec Baldwin narrates as we examine the technologies and remedies that already exist in the battle to reverse this ominous trend. Visit channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/sixdegrees/ for more information.

KIDSNET, partnering with educators and the media for more than 25 years, provided these viewing suggestions. Visit www.kidsnet.org.

PBS

9 p.m. ET/PT (Check Local Listings)

• February 6 (Episodes 1–2)
• February 13 (Episodes 3–4)

"I'd like to know who my people were, where they came from, what they did." This four-episode series offers fascinating personal stories of celebrities of African-American ancestry revealed through a combination of oral history, traditional genealogical research, and DNA analysis. The moving revelations of the family histories featured in this second edition of African American Lives will inspire you and your students to want to know more about your own and each other's family histories.

Among the celebrities who will learn about their roots this time are poet Maya Angelou, actor Morgan Freeman, and rock-and-roll legend Tina Turner. Henry Louis Gates Jr., the E.B. Du Bois Professor of the Humanities and Chair of African and African American Studies at Harvard University, hosts the program.

KIDSNET, partnering with educators and the media for more than 25 years, provided these viewing suggestions. Visit www.kidsnet.org.

PBS
Sept. 23 – Sept. 26, Sept. 30 – October 1 & 2, 8 PM ET/PT. Check local listings

America owes Burns a debt; he has recorded the stories of our “Greatest Generation” before these men and women pass from view. The US homefront during World War II is the lens used here. The succinct narration explains how the War touched every family, every city in America. Four cities are profiled: Mobile, Sacramento, Waterbury, CT and Luverne, MN. Narrators read letters and dispatches, describing how the War changed safe but uncertain lives at home. Gritty action overseas gets equal time. The battlefronts in Europe and the Pacific are described, some with color footage of gruesome scenes. With each story in the seven part series, there is now a new kind of resonance. Burns helps viewers perceive these events through the eyes of those waiting and wondering, all at a distance. To move forward, a nation must understand its past. Ken Burn‘s The War is a step in a positive direction. Some PBS stations will repeat the each episode twice each night; and a full series repeat will be aired in October. Check local listings. A viewer’s guide, video clips and more at http://www.pbs.org/thewar/

OnTV listings are provided by KIDSNET, a national resource for children’s media in Washington, D.C., www.kidsnet.org, and Cable in the Classroom Magazine at www.ciconline.org.

In the Mix

PBS
September 22. Check local listings.

In the Mix is a newsmagazine for teens by teens on special topics, claiming to be “both hip and responsible.” For this half-hour episode, students around the country filmed great teachers at work. In Utah, teachers use performing arts to make poetry come alive. In Oakland, the creative use of interactive teaching transforms a classroom. And students show that even French can become fun with the right teacher. The teen filmmakers comment on their passion for learning, and how just one teacher can make a difference. For more information, go to www.pbs.org/.

OnTV listings are provided by KIDSNET, a national resource for children’s media in Washington, D.C., www.kidsnet.org, and Cable in the Classroom Magazine at www.ciconline.org.

A&E
May 7–10, 4 a.m. ET/PT

This four-part 1998 film adaptation of the classic Thomas Hardy novel features one of literature's best-loved and most memorable heroines. Tape and use in class for two years.

OnTV listings are provided by KIDSNET, a national resource for children’s media in Washington, D.C., www.kidsnet.org, and Cable in the Classroom Magazine at www.ciconline.org.

PBS/Independent Lens
May 28, 9 p.m. Check local listings.

A thoughtful, nearly homeless man, "occupying" a cottage on San Francisco's Telegraph Hill, finds himself caring for a flock of wild parrots. Mark Bittner feeds them, nurses them when they are sick, and slowly begins to document their behaviors, from their special "hawk" danger call to their unusual method of fledging their young. This documentary speaks to the social sciences as well as biology and ecology. For more, visit www.pbs.org/independentlens/wildparrots.

OnTV listings are provided by KIDSNET, a national resource for children’s media in Washington, D.C., www.kidsnet.org, and Cable in the Classroom Magazine at www.ciconline.org.

Discovery Channel
May 18, 5 a.m. ET/PT

This program looks at theories of the moon’s origin and explains its importance to Earth’s weather, gravity, rotation, and living creatures. Tape and use in class for one year.

OnTV listings are provided by KIDSNET, a national resource for children’s media in Washington, D.C., www.kidsnet.org, and Cable in the Classroom Magazine at www.ciconline.org.

The History Channel
May 25, 6 a.m. ET/PT

Learn about the ancient Greek gods, including myths, artwork, and architecture, and their integration into modern life. Can be taped and used in the classroom for two years.

OnTV listings are provided by KIDSNET, a national resource for children’s media in Washington, D.C., www.kidsnet.org, and Cable in the Classroom Magazine at www.ciconline.org.

The History Channel
May 7, 6 a.m. ET/PT

Discover how early American settlers created homes from meager resources, including the Pilgrims’ post-and-beam houses, Swedish settlers’ log homes, sod prairie houses, and Native Americans’ desert adobe homes. Tape and use in the classroom for two years.

OnTV listings are provided by KIDSNET, a national resource for children’s media in Washington, D.C., www.kidsnet.org, and Cable in the Classroom Magazine at www.ciconline.org.

PBS
May 30, 8, 9, & 10 p.m. ET/PT. Check local listings.

An homage to America for Memorial Day, these three episodes—Memory, Landscape, and Community—catalog U.S. history by looking at the functionality and beauty of everyday, crafted objects. From the Paul Revere bowl to the Sam Maloof rocking chair, it's all here, and possibly in a museum near you; a companion exhibit will travel to seven cities. Visit www.craftinamerica.org.

OnTV listings are provided by KIDSNET, a national resource for children’s media in Washington, D.C., www.kidsnet.org, and Cable in the Classroom Magazine at www.ciconline.org.

A&E
May 24–25, 4 a.m. ET/PT

This documentary provides a harrowing, firsthand account of life and death on the front lines of battle. Shot on home video cameras by Marines who were part of the hardest hit combat unit of the Iraq War, this Emmy-nominated special weaves digital camera footage with revealing interviews. Teachers are cautioned to screen the material before airing to middle- and high school-age students. Visit www.aetv.com/classroom.

OnTV listings are provided by KIDSNET, a national resource for children’s media in Washington, D.C., www.kidsnet.org, and Cable in the Classroom Magazine at www.ciconline.org.

Discovery Channel
April 1, 8, 15, & 22, 8 p.m. ET/PT

Remarkable and strange, this show looks at the most beautiful and remote places on Earth and the animals inhabiting them. The series explores deserts and ice worlds, seas and great plains, and culminates with two hours on forests and caves. Fans of Blue Planet will also enjoy this program. More information can be found at www.discovery.com.

OnTV listings are provided by KIDSNET, a national resource for children’s media in Washington, D.C., www.kidsnet.org, and Cable in the Classroom Magazine at www.ciconline.org.

Discovery Channel
April 11, 5 a.m. ET/PT

Discover how Earth and its life-forms respond to and affect climate change, from the Ice Age to El Niño to the greenhouse effect, by following the formation and movement of ice and cyclical challenges to survival. Can be taped and used in the classroom for one year.

OnTV listings are provided by KIDSNET, a national resource for children’s media in Washington, D.C., www.kidsnet.org, and Cable in the Classroom Magazine at www.ciconline.org.

PBS
April 15–20, 9 p.m. ET/PT (Check local listings)

Billed as a major television event, this series presents six prime time documentaries about where we are in a post-September 11 world, and how we got here. Journalist Robert MacNeil narrates throughout as each segment examines the conflict between Islamic fundamentalism and American society. After five years in Iraq, MacNeil says, the consequences for our future are just beginning to come into focus. More information is available at the interactive companion Web site, www.pbs.org/crossroads.

OnTV listings are provided by KIDSNET, a national resource for children’s media in Washington, D.C., www.kidsnet.org, and Cable in the Classroom Magazine at www.ciconline.org.

Discovery Channel
April 18, 5 a.m. ET/PT

This episode explores concepts of modern physics and the universe, such as the subatomic world and Einstein's theories of relativity. Can be taped and used in the classroom for one year.

OnTV listings are provided by KIDSNET, a national resource for children’s media in Washington, D.C., www.kidsnet.org, and Cable in the Classroom Magazine at www.ciconline.org.

The History Channel
April 23–24, 6 a.m. ET/PT

This two-part program chronicles the U.S. Navy’s 1859 pursuit of an illegal carrier attempting to transport more than 700 slaves to the United States. Can be taped and used in the classroom for two years. Teaching materials are available at www.history.com/classroom.

OnTV listings are provided by KIDSNET, a national resource for children’s media in Washington, D.C., www.kidsnet.org, and Cable in the Classroom Magazine at www.ciconline.org.

The History Channel
April 2–5, 6 a.m. ET/PT

This four-part series explores tribes that fought the bastions of civilization. Part 1 looks at the Vikings—warriors, settlers, traders, and explorers. Part 2 examines the relationship between the Goths and the Roman Empire. Part 3 explores Genghis Khan and the Mongolian Empire. Part 4 looks at Attila and the Huns, who conquered lands from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. Tape and use in class for two years with materials at www.history.com/classroom.

OnTV listings are provided by KIDSNET, a national resource for children’s media in Washington, D.C., www.kidsnet.org, and Cable in the Classroom Magazine at www.ciconline.org.