Preschoolers Can Join Donkey Hodie And Friends On Their Fabulous Journeys

Donkey Hodie and Purple Panda star in our newest PBS Kids series Donkey Hodie. It premiers Monday at 10 a.m. on WVPB HD and airs again at 4 p.m. on WVPB's PBS Kids Channel. Below is the entire cast of friends including Purple Panda, Donkey Hodie's loyal and empathetic best friend who wears his big heart on his sleeve; Duck Duck, a practical, quick-witted young mallard who loves to figure things out; and Bob Dog, an energetic and eager canine who is always ready to boogie to music or fetch a ball.

Donkey Hodie, a whimsical, new PBS KIDS puppet series produced by Fred Rogers Productions and Spiffy Pictures, will encourage preschoolers to aim high, embrace challenges and work hard to achieve their goals. It premieres on Monday, May 3, at 10 a.m. on WVPB HD and WVPB PBS Kids channels.

The colorful multi-platform show follows the adventures of Donkey Hodie, granddaughter of the original Donkey Hodie character from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (now known as “Grampy Hodie”). The original puppet appeared in 59 episodes of the beloved children’s series. Inspired by the quirky, funny side of Fred Rogers, Donkey Hodie furthers the children’s TV pioneer’s mission of helping young viewers navigate the challenges of childhood. The series features original new music along with re-imagined versions of Rogers’ songs.

“We’re thrilled to bring Donkey Hodie’s engaging, character-driven stories full of adventure, imagination and music to PBS KIDS,” said Linda Simensky, Head of PBS KIDS Content. “As kids laugh and sing along with Donkey Hodie and her friends, they will learn important life lessons about teamwork, empathy and resilience to help them see a world full of possibilities.”

Set in the whimsical land of Someplace Else, created by Rogers on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, the imaginative social-emotional series for children ages 3-5 centers on the adventures of Donkey Hodie, an enthusiastic, “can-do” yellow donkey with a bright magenta mane, and her pals: Purple Panda, her loyal and empathetic best friend who wears his big heart on his sleeve; Duck Duck, a practical, quick-witted young mallard who loves to figure things out; and Bob Dog, an energetic and eager canine who is always ready to boogie to music or fetch a ball. In Someplace Else, everyone’s big dreams are possible—whether it’s Purple Panda finding the end of the Golden Rainbow, Duck Duck planning a Book-A-Palooza Festival or Bob Dog playing the largest kickball game in history. Episodes include catchy songs that reinforce the stories’ positive messages and fun adventures.

Tune in Monday through Friday next week as WVPB airs an arts-integrated miniseries focused on S.T.E.A.M. learning performed by dancers from the West Virginia Dance Company out of Beckley, West Virginia. Performances will be relative to each letter of STEAM each weekday beginning at 5:30 p.m. on WVPB television. These videos and support material will be published on PBS LearningMedia in the future.

Discovering Your Best Through S.T.E.A.M.
SCIENCE DAY…Monday
TECHNOLOGY DAY…Tuesday
ENGINEERING DAY…Wednesday
ART DAY…Thursday
MATH DAY…Friday

West Virginia Dance Company Director Toneta Toler stresses the connection between dance and the S.T.E.A.M. content areas. The movements and skills used in dance can be used to stimulate memory and enhance learning of content across the curriculum. Each program in the “Discovering Your Best Through S.T.E.A.M.” series engages viewers in specific dance movements, teaches dance related vocabulary, and relates the movements to science, technology, engineering and math concepts. Viewers learn great methods to use creative movement to enhance learning.

In last week’s newsletter we introduced our PBS LearningMedia access to the MotionMasters documentary, A Principled Man: Rev. Leon Sullivan. West Virginia Public Broadcasting has published three additional documentaries produced by MotionMasters with support materials to LearningMedia. Access to thousands of resources on PBS LearningMedia is free, but it is highly recommended that adult and student users register and create an account. This allows users to identify “favorites,” organize resources into folders, assign and complete classwork, and create lessons, puzzles, tests and storyboards using the Dashboard Tools.

Robert C. Byrd: Soul of the Senate
Burning Springs: A History of the Oil and Gas Industry
The West Virginia State Capitol: A Moving Monument

NOVA is currently producing a new NOVA Lab, the Financial Behavior Lab, an interactive experience that seeks to help students increase their financial well-being through healthy habit formation. Through mini-games simulating financial decisions, players will identify and overcome built-in human biases and develop strategies to deal with them.

At this time, the NOVA Labs team is looking for classrooms to test a beta version of the lab the weeks of May 10, May 31 and June 21 to collect feedback about their experience playing the game.

The data collected from testing is anonymous and will be instrumental in shaping the game’s final design. If you and your students are interested in participating please email NOVA Outreach Manager, Gina Varamo, at gina_varamo@wgbh.org.