Series

Learn & Laugh with Mr Gaff

41 episodes

Learn & Laugh with Mr Gaff is one friendly host explaining a single elementary topic per episode in about five to thirteen minutes, moving across science, United States history, and language arts. The science set covers the water cycle, states of matter, forces and motion, life cycles, energy, rocks, erosion, and the night sky. A long history run walks the road to the American Revolution from the Stamp Act through Lexington and Concord, and adds women's suffrage, westward expansion, and the true stories behind familiar holidays. Language-arts titles teach parts of speech, character traits, and how to compare and contrast. Clear labeled graphics and a light comic touch keep every explainer moving.

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what this series covers

What Learn & Laugh with Mr Gaff covers

41 episodes in the library, tagged for K–6th. Heaviest coverage: Social Studies, Science and Reading & Writing (ELA). Between them they line up with 49 distinct standards across 4 frameworks.

Episodes per grade

K: 3
1st: 5
2nd: 17
3rd: 28
4th: 39
5th: 36
6th: 22

Episodes per subject

Social Studies: 19
Science: 17
Reading & Writing (ELA): 4
Technology: 2

NGSS (Science) 24

MS-ESS1-1Develop and use a model of the Earth-sun-moon system to describe the cyclic patterns of lunar phases, eclipses of the sun and moon, and seasons.
2-PS1-1Plan and conduct an investigation to describe and classify different kinds of materials by their observable properties.
2-PS1-4Construct an argument with evidence that some changes caused by heating or cooling can be reversed and some cannot.
5-ESS1-2Represent data in graphical displays to reveal patterns of daily changes in length and direction of shadows, day and night, and the seasonal appearance of some stars in the night sky.
5-PS1-4Conduct an investigation to determine whether the mixing of two or more substances results in new substances.
1-ESS1-1Use observations of the sun, moon, and stars to describe patterns that can be predicted.

+ 18 more

1-PS4-3Plan and conduct an investigation to determine the effect of placing objects made with different materials in the path of a beam of light.
2-ESS2-1Compare multiple solutions designed to slow or prevent wind or water from changing the shape of the land.
2-ESS2-3Obtain information to identify where water is found on Earth and that it can be solid or liquid.
3-5-ETS1-1Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.
3-5-ETS1-2Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
3-LS1-1Develop models to describe that organisms have unique and diverse life cycles but all have in common birth, growth, reproduction, and death.
3-LS4-3Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.
3-PS2-1Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence of the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object.
3-PS2-2Make observations and/or measurements of an object's motion to provide evidence that a pattern can be used to predict future motion.
4-ESS1-1Identify evidence from patterns in rock formations and fossils in rock layers to support an explanation for changes in a landscape over time.
4-ESS2-1Make observations and/or measurements to provide evidence of the effects of weathering or the rate of erosion by water, ice, wind, or vegetation.
4-LS1-1Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.
4-PS3-2Make observations to provide evidence that energy can be transferred from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electric currents.
5-ESS2-1Develop a model using an example to describe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and/or atmosphere interact.
5-LS2-1Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.
5-PS3-1Use models to describe that energy in animals' food was once energy from the sun.
MS-ESS1-3Analyze and interpret data to determine scale properties of objects in the solar system.
MS-ESS2-1Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth's materials and the flow of energy that drives this process.

Common Core — ELA 8

L.2.1Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
L.3.1Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
L.4.1Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
L.5.1Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
RI.3.9Compare and contrast the most important points and key details presented in two texts on the same topic.
RI.4.5Describe the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in a text or part of a text.

+ 2 more

RL.2.3Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.
RL.3.3Describe characters in a story and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.

Social Studies (C3 / NCSS) 13

D2.His.14.3-5Explain probable causes and effects of events and developments.
D2.His.1.3-5Create and use a chronological sequence of related events to compare developments that happened at the same time.
D2.His.16.3-5Use evidence to develop a claim about the past.
D2.His.3.3-5Generate questions about individuals and groups who have shaped significant historical changes and continuities.
D2.Civ.2.3-5Explain how a democracy relies on people's responsible participation, and draw implications for how individuals should participate.
D2.His.2.3-5Compare life in specific historical time periods to life today.

+ 7 more

D2.Civ.8.K-2Describe democratic principles such as equality, fairness, and respect for legitimate authority and rules.
D2.Eco.1.3-5Compare the benefits and costs of individual choices.
D2.Eco.2.K-2Identify the benefits and costs of making various personal decisions.
D2.Geo.4.3-5Explain how culture influences the way people modify and adapt to their environments.
D2.Geo.6.K-2Identify some cultural and environmental characteristics of specific places.
D2.His.4.K-2Compare perspectives of people in the past to those of people in the present.
D2.His.6.K-2Compare different accounts of the same historical event.

ITEEA STEL (Technology & Engineering) 4

STEL-2AIllustrate how systems have parts or components that work together to accomplish a goal.
STEL-7BDemonstrate that designs have requirements.
STEL-7EIllustrate that there are different solutions to a design and that none are perfect.
STEL-8AAnalyze how things work.

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