Series

Reading Rainbow

40 episodes

LeVar Burton reads a picture book aloud, then goes out into the world to see it for real, scuba diving after Dive to the Coral Reefs and stepping inside a volcano after Hill of Fire. Each half-hour episode pairs one book with a trip to the place it describes. The 40 here reach across folktales (Abiyoyo, Borreguita and the Coyote), nonfiction (Desert Giant, Germs Make Me Sick!), history (Follow the Drinking Gourd), and family feelings (Always My Dad). Reach for one when you want a read-aloud that keeps going after the last page.

what this series covers

What Reading Rainbow covers

40 episodes in the library, tagged for Pre-K–5th. Heaviest coverage: Reading & Writing (ELA), Social Studies and Science. Between them they line up with 67 distinct standards across 6 frameworks.

Episodes per grade

Pre-K: 1
K: 30
1st: 35
2nd: 39
3rd: 23
4th: 8
5th: 3

Episodes per subject

Reading & Writing (ELA): 40
Social Studies: 12
Science: 9
Social-Emotional Learning: 9
Music: 4
Art: 3
Health: 2
Math: 2

Common Core — Math 1

1.MD.C.4Organize, represent, and interpret data with up to three categories; ask and answer questions about the total number of data points.

Common Core — ELA 33

RL.1.3Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.
RL.K.3With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.
RL.K.1With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
RL.K.2With prompting and support, retell familiar stories, including key details.
L.K.6Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts.
RI.2.3Describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text.

+ 27 more

RL.1.2Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.
RI.1.2Identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.
RI.2.2Identify the main topic of a multiparagraph text as well as the focus of specific paragraphs within the text.
RL.2.2Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message, lesson, or moral.
SL.K.2Confirm understanding of a text read aloud or information presented orally by asking and answering questions about key details.
RI.1.1Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
RI.3.2Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.
RL.2.3Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.
RL.2.9Compare and contrast two or more versions of the same story by different authors or from different cultures.
L.1.6Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts.
RI.1.3Describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.
L.2.6Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts.
RI.3.3Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text.
RI.K.2With prompting and support, identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.
RI.K.3With prompting and support, describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.
RL.1.4Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses.
RL.2.4Describe how words and phrases supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song.
RL.3.2Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details.
RL.3.3Describe characters in a story and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.
RL.3.4Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal from nonliteral language.
SL.K.1Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about kindergarten topics and texts.
RI.2.7Explain how specific images contribute to and clarify a text.
RI.3.1Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
RI.4.2Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize the text.
RL.4.3Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text.
SL.1.1Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1 topics and texts.
SL.1.2Ask and answer questions about key details in a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media.

Social Studies (C3 / NCSS) 14

D2.Geo.6.K-2Identify some cultural and environmental characteristics of specific places.
D2.Civ.14.3-5Illustrate historical and contemporary means of changing society.
D2.Eco.14.K-2Describe why people in one country trade goods and services with people in other countries.
D2.Geo.11.K-2Explain how the consumption of products connects people to distant places.
D2.Geo.12.K-2Identify ways that a catastrophic disaster may affect people living in a place.
D2.Geo.4.K-2Explain how weather, climate, and other environmental characteristics affect people's lives in a place or region.

+ 8 more

D2.Geo.5.3-5Explain how the cultural and environmental characteristics of places change over time.
D2.Geo.5.K-2Describe how human activities affect the cultural and environmental characteristics of places or regions.
D2.Geo.6.3-5Describe how environmental and cultural characteristics influence population distribution in specific places or regions.
D2.Geo.7.K-2Explain why and how people, goods, and ideas move from place to place.
D2.His.2.3-5Compare life in specific historical time periods to life today.
D2.His.2.K-2Compare life in the past to life today.
D2.His.3.3-5Generate questions about individuals and groups who have shaped significant historical changes and continuities.
D2.His.4.3-5Explain why individuals and groups during the same historical period differed in their perspectives.

National Core Arts 5

MU:Re7.2.3aDemonstrate and describe how a response to music can be informed by the structure, the use of the elements of music, and context.
MU:Cn10.0.5aDemonstrate how interests, knowledge, and skills relate to personal choices and intent when creating, performing, and responding to music.
VA:Cn11.1.5Identify how art is used to inform or change beliefs, values, or behaviors of an individual or society.
VA:Cr2.1.4Explore and invent art-making techniques and approaches.
VA:Re7.2.3Determine messages communicated by an image.

CASEL (Social-Emotional) 11

CASEL.SA.1Name your own feelings and notice how they change during the day.
CASEL.SOA.1Take another person's perspective — describe a situation as they would see it.
CASEL.RDM.4Anticipate and evaluate the consequences of your actions before you act.
CASEL.RS.2Build and keep positive relationships and friendships.
CASEL.RS.8Stand up for the rights of others.
CASEL.SA.3Recognize your own strengths, interests, and the assets you bring from your family and culture.

+ 5 more

CASEL.SA.7Develop interests and a sense of purpose — identify what matters to you and why.
CASEL.SM.1Manage strong emotions and impulses instead of acting on them right away.
CASEL.SM.3Show self-discipline and self-motivation — keep working when a task gets hard or boring.
CASEL.SM.7Demonstrate personal and collective agency — recognize that your choices, alone and with others, change outcomes.
CASEL.SOA.7Recognize what a setting calls for — behavior that fits recess may not fit a library or a lab.

National Health Education 3

NHES.1.2.5Identify practices that prevent or reduce health risks, such as handwashing.
NHES.1.2.6List ways to take part in healthy practices, such as brushing teeth daily.
NHES.3.2.4Describe the role trusted adults play in clinics and community settings.

Every episode is vetted and tagged before it goes in. Pick your state in the filters above to see your own state’s codes alongside these.

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