I think that the School House Rock series that originally showed in between cartoons on Saturday mornings on ABC in the 1970s is arguably one of the most inventive and successful teaching tools ever!
I was a tween during that time, and I still remember the words to many of those songs.
And I can't count the times one of them helped me on a test. The Preamble to the Constitution, which I can sing to this day, helped me ace several government tests throughout high school. And I believe it won me a beer once in a bar in college.
Here's the link for The Preamble song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHp7sMqPL0g
These songs were all sung by famous rock/folk/country stars of the era.
Mother Necessity is all about important inventors, such as Alexander Graham Bell and Eli Whitney. Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEGQUgWBQL4
Maybe the best remembered is The Shot Heard Round the World, teaching about the Revolutionary War in a very catchy fashion. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZMmPWTwTHc.
Over the years, they came out with America Rock, Grammar Rock, Multiplication Rock and Science Rock. These series are all excellent, and I recommend them to parents who want to give their kids a catchy way to remember important facts, dates, people and events.
If you've never seen these, go check them out. Look them up on YouTube. There's Conjunction Junction; Inter-planet Janet, etc.
Ever wonder how the national debt got its start? Check out Tyrannosaurus Debt! "Feeding time is ALL the time!" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0efqnvYz4YI. Did you know the Civil War debt hadn't been paid off by WWI? Oy, Vey!
So go watch some of these gems with your kids. It's learning with fun. And boy, some of these messages are even more apropos today than when they were first written.
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