[bright upbeat music] - [Woman] Ready to learn?

- [All] Hi.

- [Woman] It's time to share a story, read and write.

- Let's read it back.

- [Woman] Discover science, sing.

Play, and so much more.

- Cupcake!

- Very good.

- [Woman] Stay tuned for lessons and activities.

- We're gonna start making some words, isn't that fun?

[bright upbeat music] - [Announcer] Funding for this program was provided by the JPB Foundation.

[bright upbeat music] - Hi, my name is Kasia and I am a teaching artist with New York City Children's Theater.

Today, we are going to be reading a book together and bringing it to life.

The name of our book is "Lucia the Luchadora" by Cynthia Leonor Garza illustrated by Alyssa Bermudes.

Have you ever heard that word before, Luchadora?

Luchadoras are the larger than life stars of acrobatic and theatrical style of wrestling known as Lucha Libre.

It was popularized in Mexico and our main character Lucia as you can see here is wearing a mask and Luchadoras often wear masks to conceal their identities.

In our story, Lucia will have to decide if she is going to continue to conceal her own identity.

You won't need any materials as we read the story, you're just going to need your voices, your bodies, and your imagination.

Let's practice using them before we start our story.

Do you know what a superhero is?

I want you to create a superhero pose with your face and body on the count of three, one, two, three, and relax, that was my superhero pose.

You can create anything you want.

And I'm gonna ask you to create different kinds of frozen statues, facial expressions as we go through our story let's begin.

"Lucia the Luchadora" I zip through the playground in my red Cape.

I go, boom, I go Pow!

Can you do those movements with your body?

Boom, pow, excellent.

The boys zoom by with their own capes fluttering behind them.

They go, boom, they go crash.

The boys try to jump off the monkey bars but no one can do a high flying leap from the top like I can I dive, I spin, I nail my landing every single time.

I dash up the dark swirly side that no one dares go near but the boys pay no attention to me.

They dart off when I try to play with them Mighty Micky yells out to me.

"Girls can't be superheroes!"

Ninja Nick his twin adds "Girls are just made of sugar and spice "and everything nice."

I don't feel very nice and sweet at that moment.

I feel mad, spicy mad, ka-pow kind of mad.

Can you show me on your face and body on the count of three?

What mad looks like?

one, two, three.

Excellent, let's shake that off.

And let's keep going with our story.

Abuela watches me from a nearby bench.

When I flop down next to her Abu leans over and whispers a secret, we hatch a plan.

That night Abu gives me an old box.

There's a shiny satin Cape inside and a very special silver mask.

Abu tells me that when she was a little girl she was a special kind of superhero a Luchadora.

And I don't know what a Luchadora is.

Abu tells me a Luchadora is more than a masked wrestler with swift moves, more than just a superhero with slick style, a Luchadora is agile.

She moves and thinks quickly.

Have you ever heard that word before agile?

It means to move swiftly, quickly, and easily.

A luchadora has moxie.

She is brave and full of heart and isn't afraid to fight for what is right.

Most importantly a Luchadora never reveals her true identity.

Have you ever heard that word moxie?

Oftentimes authors tell us what a word means in the story.

And the author actually has defined moxie for us in the next sentence.

She is brave and full of heart, that is what moxie means.

Abu tells me the greatest Luchadora of all time El Santo wore a silver mask too, and never ever took it off.

I slip the silver mask over my head.

And when I look myself in the mirror, I feel a bolt run through me.

What do you think Lucia means by that?

"I feel a bolt run through me."

Can we try with our face and bodies?

On the count of three, one, two, three, and relax shake that off.

"With that mask, you can become "anything you dream of being" Abu says.

Wham, whomp, on the playground the next day, the boys zoom by in their capes.

They go wham, they go whomp.

I charge their crowd, my silver and white Cape a blinding flash behind me.

I catch everyone's eyes.

Everyone wants to know who is wearing the silver mask.

I'm a Luchadora with a secret identity with my silver mask, I can become anything I dream of being.

I stand on top of the monkey bars ready to do a high-flying leap.

I dive, I spin I nail my landing like always.

This time everyone notices.

The crowd goes wild, the boys go, boom.

They try to crash into me.

Can we all try that?

The crowd goes wild.

I wanna hear you doing your loudest cheers.

[cheering while clapping] Amazing, I am lightning fast and no one can catch me.

No one can wow, like I can.

I am the best kind of superhero.

I'm Lucia the Luchadora.

Before long, I see lots of other Lucha Libre masks on the playground.

One day I spot a Crusader in a pink mask with red glittery hearts.

A girl, another Luchadora.

I can't wait to play with the new pink Crusader but before I can run over, I hear something familiar.

Girls can't be superheroes.

Girls are just made of sugar and spice and everything nice.

I feel spicy again, spicy mad.

Ka-pow kind of mad.

Let me see those mad faces.

Just then the dark swirly slide goes clang!

Everyone stops and stares, bang, jangle, scritch!

Everyone shrinks, but I move closer.

I hear a yip and a yelp and a peep that sounds like help.

I feel that tik tok in my chest, but I don't flinch.

I dash to the crowd and up the ladder moments later I swoop down the slide with little Coco in my lap.

Bravo, everyone cheers, my heart swells.

But then I spot the pink Crusader in the crowd.

Why does she look so sad?

I remember Abu's words "A real Luchadora must fight for what is right."

My heart doesn't feel very full anymore.

I know what I have to do, I pull off my mask.

Why do you think she pulls off her mask in that moment?

That's right, she may feel like she can finally be herself and let the world know who she is and be truly fearless.

Zap, everyone is thunder struck.

My true identity is revealed, I am no longer a Luchadora Then something unexpected happens.

Clap, clap, clap.

Can I hear you make some clapping noises with your hands?

[clapping] excellent.

Then something spectacular happens.

Luchadora is everywhere hidden in plain sight.

Little Coco jumps off my lap and races through the crowd.

I bolt after him in a flash and all the boys and girls start to chase me.

But I'm lightening fast and no one can catch me.

No one is as dazzling or daring as I am.

I climb up the monkey bars, I dive, I spin.

And then I strike the ground.

A charge runs through the crowd.

I am still the best kind of superhero.

I am Lucia the Luchadora mask or no mask, the end.

Wow, Lucia was a very, very brave individual.

It's not easy being brave, but she decided to be very brave in this story and help out that little dog on the slide.

She also decided to take off her mask and finally be herself.

It takes a lot of courage to do that.

And sometimes it's not always easy being who you are but usually it's always a good idea.

Like it was the story.

Lucia a wore a beautiful mask in our story.

Now it is your turn to create your very own mask.

It's pretty easy to find mask templates online.

I found this one and you can color it in however you want.

You can also just draw this outline yourself or have an adult help you.

Now remember you can color in mask with crayons, markers, colored pencils, it's up to you and you can make it as unique as you want it to be with all kinds of colors and designs.

I'm gonna show you an example of a mask that I made myself.

I colored in the way I wanted to have it colored in.

And you can also add some string to wear the mask.

Remember, if you want to cut out the eyes and the mouth make sure you get an adult to help you.

Now, remember in the beginning, when we did that superhero pose?

Once your mask is finished, I want you to put it on or hold it in front of your face and do that superhero pose that you created in the beginning of our story.

Remember, you can create multiple masks, color them in however you want and make them unique to you.

I hope you have fun with this bye everyone.

- Hi, movers and shakers.

This is violet, and I'm really excited to get to sing the song today with my friend.

- Thank you, Violet for inviting me to meet with you and your friends.

My name is Jeremy Watson and I am a music teacher at PS 21 Staten Island, home of the Eagles.

Violet asked me to share a song with you today because of everything that's going on in the world.

With kids suddenly having to learn from home or even others making each other feel bad because of how different we look from one another.

It's important to remember that we are not alone that we're in this together and that we are a part of one race, the human race.

So, when things look dim, look for the light that shines inside and let your light shine for the whole world to see.

This song is called "This Little Light of Mine."

It's a call and response song which means I'll sing a phrase the call, and you'll think back the response.

Are you ready, let's go.

♪ This little light of mine ♪ ♪ I'm gonna let it shine ♪ ♪ Oh, this little light of mine ♪ I'm gonna let it shine ♪ This little light of mine ♪ ♪ I'm gonna let it shine ♪ ♪ Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine ♪ ♪ This little light of mine ♪ ♪ I'm gonna let it shine ♪ ♪ Oh, this little light of mine ♪ ♪ I'm gonna let it shine ♪ ♪ This little light of mine ♪ ♪ I'm gonna let it shine ♪ ♪ Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine ♪ - Thanks, Jeremy, I always love singing with you, thanks everyone.

[bright upbeat music] - Hi friends, I'm Lunisol.

- And I am Eilese.

- And today we will be focusing on the long /i/ vowel and its spellings.

Vowels can stand for long and short vowel sounds.

Today, we will be listening for building, blending and sorting words with long /i/ spelling patterns.

Let's start with a phonemic awareness warmup.

I'm going to say a word.

You will tap the sounds in the word and listen for the long or short vowel /i/ sound.

The long sound is /i/ like ice-cream the short sound is /i/ like igloo?

When you hear the word, tap it.

Then tell me the sound of the vowel and the name of the vowel.

I'll do the first one listen fig /f/ /i/ /g/ the vowel sound is i/ in this word.

That's a short vowel /i/ now you try it, ready?

Flight, flight, /f/ /l/ /i/ /ght/ What's that vowel sound, /i/ that's a long sound.

Good job, now let's do kite ready?

/k/ /i/ /te/ What's the sound of the vowel?

/I/, yes, good job.

I is a long sound.

Pit, /p//i/ /t/, /i/ is the sound of the vowel?

What sound is that?

A short sound or a long sound?

That's right, it's a short sound.

Now next word, ready?

Sky, /s/ /k/ /y/ What's the vowel sounds?

I, long I great job my friends now let's connect our sounds to their spellings.

Let's look at the different ways we can spell long vowel /i/.

The long vowel I sound for, /i/ I just like its name, I, ice scream, I, you say it.

- I, ice cream, /i/.

- Good job, you've learned that the long /i/ can be made by different spellings, it can be made by a consonant and an I together in an open syllable, like in the word, hi.

We've also learned about consonants about /i/ a consonant and silent /e/ like in the word, like.

And it can even be made by an I and an E together like in the word tie.

Those are three different spellings for long /i/ but there's still two more ways that we can spell the long vowel /i/ sound.

Let's look at some of those ways together.

Here, we have a word.

I'm gonna read this word, /s/ /i/ /ght/ take a look at the letters, making that long /i/ sound.

Yeah, that's right, three letters together.

I G and H can stand for that long /i/ sound.

That is called a trigraph good job.

There are many words that have I G and H together like /s/ /igh/ /t/, sight.

But guess what?

There's still another way that we can spell the long vowel /i/, this is the word shy.

What letter is standing for that long /i/ sound here?

That's right, the /y/ at the end of a word can sometimes stand for the long vowel /i/ sound like shy.

Let's look at some other words that have the I G H or the Y spellings.

Let's read some words with these spelling patterns.

Remember, you can read words by tapping the sounds on your fingers or your arm, and then blending the sounds together.

Let's start with this word.

/R/ /i/ /ght/, right, good job.

How about this word?

/L/ /igh/ /t/, light.

Oh, nice, and this word /c/ /r/ /y/, cry and last word.

/S/ /ly/, sly, great reading, now let's use what we've learned to read some blending lines.

All right, friends, I'm going to set the timer to 20 seconds, in those 20 seconds, tap and blend as many of these words as you can.

I'll use a whisper voice to read along with you.

You use a nice loud voice.

Ready, set go.

/F/ /ly/, fly.

/F/ /l/ /ight/, flight.

/F/ /igh/ /t/, fight.

/L/ /igh/ /t/, light.

/S/ /igh/, sigh.

/S/ /igh/ /t/, sight.

/S/ /ly/, sly.

/S/ /py/, spy.

Did you read all the words?

Great job, now let's read the most smoothly fly, flight, fight, light sigh, sight, sly and spy This word sly means to be tricky or sneaky.

Now let's read some sentences.

I point under the words and you read along with me smoothly.

I will try to take a night flight.

I love to look at the night sky shining bright.

Did you spot some words with our long /i/ spelling patterns?

Yes, night, flight, sky, shining, bright and try, nice job.

All right, friends to help us take a closer look at some long /i/ spelling patterns.

We're going to sort some words.

We are going to sort the words by these three patterns long /i/ made by the Y at the end of a word.

Long /i/ made by /ie/ and long /i/ made by the trigraph /igh/ like in night, we have by, pie, and night.

Are you ready?

Let's look at the first word.

This is the word try.

Where would this work go?

With by, pie or night?

That's right, it goes with the word, by, by, try.

Both of these words have a long /i/ vowel sound made by the Y, let's try another.

What is this word, Eilese?

- That word is sky.

- Sky, where would this word go on our sort with by, pie or night?

What do you think?

- I think it goes with by.

- By, try, sky, good job.

- Because it has a Y.

- Yeah, what about this word friends?

- [All] Light.

- Good job, where does it go with by, pie, or night?

- I think night.

- Yeah, I agree.

Both of these words have the trigraph, igh and guess what?

They also have the same ending letter T that makes that /t/ sound.

And this word, you read it, dry.

Where does that go?

- Here.

- Oh, wow, look how many words we have with the Y at the end, standing for the long /i/ sound.

And this word?

- Fly.

- Fly.

By, try, sky, dry, fly.

How's that word, you read it.

- My.

- Good job.

Where does that go?

- It goes here.

- Good, I think we're out of space.

We're gonna put it right here.

Nice job, one last word.

- Tie.

- Tie.

And where does this word go with the Y at the end, the IE or the IGH?

- I think it goes with the pie.

- Do you agree with Eilese?

- Yeah pie and tie, let's read our words, ready?

- [All] By, try, sky, dry, fly, my.

- Ooh I forgot about my good job.

- [All] Pie, tie, night, light.

- Let me ask you a question.

Take a close look at the words on this column.

What do you notice about all of these words by, try, sky, dry, fly?

Do you notice anything special?

- They all have Y at the end.

- Yeah, they all have Y at the end and there's something else.

Listen, by, try, sky, dry, they all rhyme.

They have the same sound at the end.

So if you can read this word you can also read all of these other words.

Now, how about here night, light?

Do those words rhyme?

- Hmm.

- Yes, can you think of another word that rhymes with night and light?

- Kite.

- It does kite, and guess what?

The word kite is spelled a little different.

It's K-I-T-E but it still has the same sound at the end.

Good job, night, light, kite, what else can rhyme with those words?

Yeah, sight, might and fight, right?

Do you notice anything about the words in this column and this column?

Listen, pie, tie, by, tri?

Yes, you are right, these words and these words rhyme.

They have the same sounds at the end, even though they are spelled differently.

My goodness, my friends, you did such a great job today.

Learning about our long /i/ spelling patterns.

If you'd like to continue your learning at home show this sort to a family member or make your own sort get a paper, write the different spellings at the top and then look around your home.

For words, you can find or objects you can find that have these sounds at the end or the spelling patterns.

See what, how many words you can find at home.

We'll see you next time.

- [All] Bye.

[bright upbeat music] - Hello students, I'm so glad you're joining me.

I'm getting ready to do one of my favorite tasks.

Feeding the fish.

They're always so happy to see me.

First, let me get dressed for the job.

Already, let's grab the fish food.

Now it's important not to overfeed the fish.

So I'm only going to give them a little bit.

I love to start my days hanging out with these fish.

It feels good to take care of other living things.

This is Mr. Speck, he prefers to be by himself.

And this, this is Marvin, he's the biggest fish in the tank.

He only swims at night.

He's a vegetarian and he really likes cucumbers.

I always find it so relaxing to watch the fish swim back and forth, it's my happy place.

I have precisely 55 fish and they are pretty small, but I know there are bigger fish in the sea.

I wonder what animals live in the ocean.

What are the different areas of the ocean like?

How do animals breathe underwater?

[phone chiming] - Hi, Mr. Ritz, are you there?

- I'm here, why, if it isn't Sammy the shark.

It's so great to hear from you.

It's been far too long.

- Yes, well, I am a little embarrassed.

- Why is that Sammy?

- Well, Mr.Ritz, I'm lost.

I was out chasing a school sea bus and I must have gone a bit farther than I thought nothing looks like home where are the chorals?

Why is the water so cold?

- Sammy, I'd be very happy to help you out.

Can you describe what's around you?

What do you observe?

- Oh, right, the water is pretty cloudy.

Lots of sediment floating around.

It doesn't taste as salty as it normally does either.

And let's see, that's different wood pillars covered in barnacles.

- Okay, so you see wood pillar is covered in barnacles lots of sediment and the water is not as salty.

I'm going to have to do some research and get back to you.

- Thanks, Mr.Rtiz.

[phone chiming] - Can we help Sammy find his way home, let's investigate.

[bright upbeat music] Wait a minute.

My cousin Dr. Ritz, the Marine biologist works at the American museum of natural history.

Let's go pay him a visit, I'll grab my other hat, let's go.

Wow, we made it.

Dr. Ritz told me to meet him in the Milstein Family home of Ocean Life.

Do you think he'll recognize me?

Maybe this way.

[upbeat music] Wow, I never knew there was so many things in the museum.

I wonder how are we going to find The home of Ocean Life?

What about a map?

This museum is so big that the museum provides a map to every visitor to find what they came to see.

Let's take a look.

This is a map of the first floor.

Do you see ocean life on the map?

This hall over here, Planet earth.

No, North American forest, no.

Oh, do you see the big whale?

Yes, there it is, the home of ocean life.

Let's go meet my cousin Dr. Ritz the Marine biologist.

We're on the second floor.

Let's find our way downstairs this way please.

Dr. Ritz, are you in here?

Wow, remember that big whale from the map?

Now that is a big, big, big, blue whale.

- Hey, Mr. Ritz I'm down here.

- Dr. Ritz, Dr.Ritz, I found you, I found you.

- This is my favorite place to meet people at the museum right here under the big blue whale.

I'm a Marine biologist.

And that means I study life in the ocean.

Are you a teacher shark?

- Just trying to blend in.

I didn't know there are animals this big in the ocean.

- Oh yeah, there are thousands of blue whales like this living in our oceans.

They live in the open ocean.

A featureless expansive water far from shore.

- How long is this blue whale?

- Blue whales typically grow 70 to 100 feet.

- Oh, okay, the last time I visited the museum, I saw a titanosaur that was 122 feet long.

So I guess the blue whale is not as big.

Well, it's not as long, but a titanosaur had a long thin tail, and a long thin neck.

My friend big blue here is much more massive and is way heavier than a titanosaur would've ever been.

- So we could say it's the biggest.

- Blue whales are the biggest animals who have ever lived on earth and they are swimming in our oceans right now.

- That's amazing, I'd say big blue is the length of one, two, three whole school buses or one whole basket ball court.

I wonder how do they get so big?

- By eating the teeniest tiniest things, blue whales eat krill, tiny shrimp like creatures up to six tons of krill a day that weighs as much as three cars.

Even though you might be impressed by big blue size.

Never forget how important the littlest creatures are.

- That's right, even though you too might be small, you too are important.

What's next doctorates.

- Look at all these creatures that live in the ocean.

They're not all fish.

- That's right, none of these organisms are fish.

There are lobsters and octopus and jelly fish.

- Oh my, I can see that now.

So many different sea creatures, so many shapes and colors.

And even though they might be different colors, shapes and sizes, they're all part of the ocean environment.

- Actually, there are many different environments under the ocean and even greater variety than on land, would you like to see a view?

- We can see different ocean environments right here at the museum?

- Of course, part of New York city has this type of underwater environment.

It's an estuary where a river meets the sea.

Do you know which river flows past New York city?

Yes, the Hudson river.

It flows right past New York city where it meets the Atlantic ocean.

This is what the Hudson river looks like under the water?

- That's right, the fresh water from the river mixes with the salt water of the ocean, the saltiness of the water can change with the tides and seasons.

The animals that live in this water are able to tolerate these changes and that makes them special.

- So when the ocean tides come in, salt water flows up the river?

And when the tide goes back out the salt water flows back out?

- You got it.

The daily reversal of flow from the tides can stir up sediments and make the water cloudy.

- Wait a minute.

Our friends Sammy the shark is lost.

And he said, he saw one pillar is covered in barnacles the water is cloudy with sediment and the water is not as salty.

Do you know where Sammy is?

That's right, Sammy is in an estuary.

I can't wait to tell him.

These fish are much bigger than the ones in my fish tank.

My fish come from a tropical region.

Can we see an environment with tropical fish?

- Of course, follow me.

- Wow, look at all these colors these sea creatures are just so colorful, just like my fish.

- This is the coral reef.

Coral reefs are like cities in the sea.

They are built by millions of tiny animals and support a vast abundance of underwater organisms.

- It looks like there are nooks and crannies for little creatures to hide.

- Coral reefs provide food as well as habitat.

It's a densely packed community where many animals live on or even inside other animals.

- That's one way to play hide and seek.

- I know you like to grow plants in your classroom Mr. Ritz, did you know that some fish are farmers too?

- Really?

- Check out this dusky farmer fish.

They mainly eat from patches of algae that grow on the reef.

They guard and cultivate these gardens.

That's how they got their farmer nickname.

- I had no idea you could farm in the ocean or that fish could be farmers, amazing.

- Farmer fish are very protective of their gardens.

This school of powder blue surgeon fish have to swerve down in overwhelming numbers and gumball up what they can before they are chased away by the farmer.

- The school of fish, the fish go to school too?

- A group of fish that swim together are called a school.

- Did you know that fish swimming together in a group are called a school of fish?

Some fish school together to stay safe because they look bigger as a group.

And that makes them stronger.

Dr. Ritz, how do the fish know to stay together?

Do they talk to each other?

- Fish can communicate with each other.

Come, I'd like to show you one more underwater environment.

Marine biologists have discovered that fish communicate with each other, using color, smell, movement, body language, and bioluminescence.

Big word alert bioluminescence.

Can you count the syllables?

BI-O-LUM-IN-E-SCENCE, six.

- Even in the deepest parts of the ocean, many Marine animals aren't in the dark because they make their own light.

They use bioluminescence, chemicals in their bodies mix together to produce cold light which doesn't give off any heat.

Some of the bioluminescent animals like the angler fish get their glow from tiny microbes that live inside special light organs inside their bodies.

- That is so cool.

I wish I had lights on me to communicate.

- That's not all Mr.Ritz, some fish can even make sounds.

Fish communicate with each other, especially in the morning and evening with a special collection of sounds that scientists call vocalizing.

Different fish have different ways of making sounds like grunts, chirps, and paps.

Can you make a grunt sound?

How about a chirp sound?

- [Kid] Chirp!

And what about a pop?

- [Kid] Pop!

- I had no idea fish makes sound I'll have to listen much closer to the fish in my tank.

Dr. Ritz, thank you so much for showing us all the different ocean environments today but I need to get back to my classroom.

You're welcome, Mr.Ritz, come back anytime.

There are even more ocean environments to explore.

- I have one final Marine biology question.

I wonder why doesn't the big blue whale have any gills?

- Well that's because whales are not fish.

Whales are mammals, and all mammals have lungs like you and me.

They don't breathe underwater.

Instead, whales swim up to the surface to breathe air.

I wonder how long can a big whale like that hold it's breadth?

- Blue whales usually come up to breathe every 30 minutes but they can hold a breath in their lungs for up to 90 minutes.

That's an hour and a half.

- Wow, that's a lot of oxygen.

- You should come visit the Bernard family hall of North American mammals next time.

I would love that, I can't wait to see them.

See you soon Big blue.

- Bye-bye.

- Welcome back to class students.

I had so much fun exploring the American Museum of Natural History with you today.

Let's draw friend, big blue, the blue whale today for this directed drawing you'll simply need a piece of paper or something to draw with.

A pencil, crayon, or a marker, you may like to use a pencil so you can erase but I'm going to use a marker so you can see it better.

Now, remember, big blue is gonna swim right across the P. So we'll want to put his head here and his tail right there.

So I will start by making his head.

I'm going to start with a simple sideways V. The next thing I'll do is add in an eye and then I'm adding his mouth, now remember big blue had a blow hole on his head, so we'll make a little hole so he can breathe.

And then across the bottom we're gonna go right to the back.

Wow, look at that.

And we'll do the same thing across the top.

We'll add a fin in here, and a across the back we're gonna make two little leaves, one like this and like this, and then one like this and one like that.

And that makes his tail, we're almost done.

We'll add in some lines here, and then some lines for his underbelly and wow, big blue, he's a happy guy.

The next thing we'll do is we'll color him in.

He's a combination of blue and gray.

So we'll add some blue down here, around the bottom, oh, look at that.

And then we're gonna add in around his tail.

Big blue really is looking pretty happy.

Then we'll add in a little gray.

So go under knee, 'cause he's a combination of blue and gray.

We'll add in some gray, oh, across his body.

Now remember mammals have little bits of hair so we can put some hair, he has almost as much hair as me.

And then we'll add in some more blue a big blue as he swims across the ocean.

I hope you like drawing big blue with me.

We can even add in his eye ball.

And look at that big blue, I hope you enjoyed drawing today.

- Hi Sammy.

- Hi Mr. Ritz did you learn something that will help me find my way home?

- I think we did, and so much more.

We learned about fish, sea creatures and ocean environments today.

We learned that fish have lots of ways to communicate even vocalizing.

We learned that fish need oxygen to breathe, just like us.

We learned that fish use their gills to pump oxygen out of the water.

We learned that fish even go to school or at least they swim in large groups to protect each other.

What a great community it sounds like.

And we learn that Sammy is in an estuary.

Sammy, is there anything you can tell us that will help us figure out which estuary you are in?

- Let's see, there's a tall green lady standing on an Island in the water.

I asked her for directions, but she didn't answer back.

- The statue of Liberty Sammy.

You are in New York city.

The nearest tropical coral reef is in the Caribbean sea turn around, head South, and you should be there in a few days.

- Oh, what a relief.

Thanks, Mr.Ritz I'll call you when I get there.

- Okey-dokey Sammy, that sounds great.

Have a great trip, bye-bye.

I can't wait to explore with you again my friends.

See you next time, bye-bye.

[bright upbeat music] - Welcome everyone, I'm doctor Katie Cunningham and I'm so glad you're here.

Today, we're gonna be thinking about the best parts of us.

'Cause sometimes there are days when I really need to give myself a little boost and remind myself, there are so many things about myself that I know and love.

So that's what we're gonna focus on today.

I want you to start by thinking to yourself, what are the best parts of me that other people can see?

Maybe it's your eyes, or your hair, or your hands, or your feet, but think about all of the things that you know and love about yourself.

Really like that's the best part of me.

I also want you to stretch yourself and think about the best parts of you that other people might not be able to see.

I had a student once who said to me, "You know the best part of me is this."

And I knew she meant the best part of her is her heart because she was such a giving person.

So there are best parts of us that other people can see and best parts of us that are deep inside, but make us who we are.

So I want you to take a couple of minutes to yourself and think, "Hmm, what are the best parts of me?"

And I'm gonna walk you through some examples that when I did this for myself, I thought about the best parts of me and why I think that.

Okay everybody, so today we're thinking about the best parts of ourselves.

And whenever I think about the best parts of me I like to remind myself I know and like who I am.

So, I wanted to start by thinking about some best parts of me that other people can see.

And one part that I thought of are my eyes.

I am so grateful for my eyes as some of the best parts of me because they help me see the whole wide world and all the people and things that I love.

I see new things every day.

So my eyes are some of the best parts of me.

Another best part of me that came to mind that other people can see are my hands.

I thought about all the ways that I can hold other people's hands with my hands, I can reach for new things, I can try to build or create things with my hands, I can even give other people a great big hug starting with my hands.

So my hands are another best part of me that other people can see.

But there are other best parts of me that came to mind that are kind of invisible.

Other people can't see them in the same way.

One best part of me that might sound familiar to you is my curiosity about the world.

I'm often making my way through the world, thinking to myself, hmm.

Or asking questions like, who am I?

And why are we here?

So my curiosity is one of the best parts of me that other people can't see.

Another best part of me that you can hear but you can't see is my laughter.

You can see my smile, I love to smile, and I love to laugh for a lot of reasons.

So today I want you to think about what do you know and like about who you are?

What are the best parts of you?

What are the best parts of you that other people can see?

Like your eyes or hands or hair or feet or elbows or knees or arms, all those parts of you.

But you might even stretch yourself to think about the best parts of you that other people can't see like your curiosity or your laughter, or your kindness, or your love.

Once you have a favorite idea, draw or put a star by it.

So, today my favorite idea is my laugh or my laughter.

I'm gonna do a little bit more deep thinking about why I feel like my laughter is the best part of me.

And I invite you to do a little bit of thinking with me.

So once you have your idea you're gonna hold that in your head and in your heart.

And we're gonna do a little bit more thinking about why that is the best part of you or at least why you think it's the best part of you today.

Okay, so, this is gonna help us do a little bit more thinking.

These are sentence starters, and you're gonna wanna think about how you fill in the blanks for you.

So, the best part of me is my blank is blank.

Without my blank, I wouldn't be able to blank.

The best part of me is blank because blank.

So, some of these sentences might feel more right to you than others, and that's okay.

I'm gonna show you how my thinking is about the best part of me, my laughter.

So, I would say the best part of me is my laughter.

At least I think it's the best part of me today.

Let me do a little bit more thinking about why my laughter is well, it's a lot of things but today the word that came to mind is my laughter is contagious.

That means that my laughter makes other people laugh.

When something is contagious, you're sharing it with others and it becomes a part of them.

So my laughter is contagious because once I start laughing, other people around me also start laughing.

I think that's a great thing.

You might've noticed that too, right?

Whenever you start laughing other people tend to start laughing.

That means it's contagious.

Without my laughter, I wouldn't be able to do a lot of things.

But one thing that came to mind for me is that without my laughter, I wouldn't be able to take joy in just being silly.

Sometimes it's okay in life just to be silly for silly sake.

And without laughter, I probably wouldn't enjoy being silly as much.

So finally, I wanna think a little bit more about why laughter is the best part of me.

And I thought to myself, the best part of me is my laughter because, [humming] above all, it makes me happy.

And that might be something that we share.

So whether the best part of you are your eyes, or your feet, or your hair, or your kindness, I have a feeling that for all of us the best parts of us make us make us happy.

Because we get to share those best parts with others.

Great job today thinking about the best parts of you and really going deep on that thinking to explain why.

Today and every day, take a minute and think to yourself, "The best part of me today is" and really own it.

And remind yourself, I'm gonna have bear, bear help remind me today.

Say to yourself, "I know and like who I am."

That's something that no matter what's going on in your day that you can always do for yourself.

All right, hold on to the things that are the best part of you, share them with others and maybe spread the love by telling other people what you think is the best part of them, till next time.

- [Announcer] Funding for this program was provided by the JPB Foundation.

[bright upbeat music]