Free Video Resource with Lesson Plans and Standards Alignment for New York Educators

VITAL NEW YORK is a new resource from Thirteen/WNET that innovative New York educators may be interested in learning more about. It is a FREE online library of digital multimedia resources for the K-12 classroom that features dynamic public television video and interactive content. VITAL NY brings the world into the classroom by providing real-life applications of concepts that engage students and stimulate discussion and learning. The collection has over 2000 resources and is fully aligned to the NY State Learning Standards and designed to support the New York State core curriculum.

The videos provide a powerful resource to enhance teaching and learning as was shared by the following feedback from these New York teachers who said:

• I loved not having to make up activities or lessons to go along with the videos. It's also made me smarter in choosing videos. I really like the format of using short videos and follow-up activities.
• It might be that using the computer to show the clips and the short duration of the clips gives students the impression that it is more important. Who would have thought to use a video clip to improve reading comprehension skills? But it works.
• It was great to hear the comments from my students on how 'fun' it was to watch a video AND learn!! I think using VITAL helped my students (especially those with special needs) expand their thinking in different ways.

NYS Educators: Access VITAL NY at http://vital.thirteen.org (First visit requires simple, free self-registration.)