School House Rock
How many of you can finish this line: "Conjunction, junction..." If an odd little tune starts playing in your head and you can suddenly name all of the things that a conjunction does, you are not alone. School House Rock was a staple for me and several other generations. I saw it in my classrooms, or during Saturday morning cartoons, and the catchy tunes helped me to learn (or at least remember) a few things too.
No, these videos can't be used as the one and only resource, but my are they a fun little clip to play in the middle of a grammar lesson! Today was a good teaching day! Some lessons were better than others, but I think my favorite class of the day was my year 6 English class. We had some great discussions about making inferences, and then I wanted to introduce them to our grammar focus of the week: nouns.
Parts of speech is very tricky for my students at home, and it was something I spent a great deal of time re-vamping last year, trying to find fun ways to teach grammar. (It seems this is something lots of teachers are trying to do as well, so there were lots of resources available to help me with this endeavor!) Today, when I asked the students "What is a noun?" I received mainly blank stares. So, I introduced them to School House Rock:
Nouns
The kids absolutely loved it! Their faces lit up with grins stretching from cheek to cheek. My kids at home love these videos too, but they are typically familiar with them. Today, I believe I had the pleasure of introducing kids to School House Rock for the very first time, and well, who can't be proud of this great accomplishment? :)
When the video was over and I asked, "What is a noun?" hands went flying into the air. We'll see if they remember tomorrow, but no matter what, the hope is that when I say it is time for grammar, I'll get some squeals of joy rather than moans of frustration.
After all, grammar can be fun! "Conjunction, junction, what's your function? Hooking up words, and phrases and clauses..."
No, these videos can't be used as the one and only resource, but my are they a fun little clip to play in the middle of a grammar lesson! Today was a good teaching day! Some lessons were better than others, but I think my favorite class of the day was my year 6 English class. We had some great discussions about making inferences, and then I wanted to introduce them to our grammar focus of the week: nouns.
Parts of speech is very tricky for my students at home, and it was something I spent a great deal of time re-vamping last year, trying to find fun ways to teach grammar. (It seems this is something lots of teachers are trying to do as well, so there were lots of resources available to help me with this endeavor!) Today, when I asked the students "What is a noun?" I received mainly blank stares. So, I introduced them to School House Rock:
Nouns
The kids absolutely loved it! Their faces lit up with grins stretching from cheek to cheek. My kids at home love these videos too, but they are typically familiar with them. Today, I believe I had the pleasure of introducing kids to School House Rock for the very first time, and well, who can't be proud of this great accomplishment? :)
When the video was over and I asked, "What is a noun?" hands went flying into the air. We'll see if they remember tomorrow, but no matter what, the hope is that when I say it is time for grammar, I'll get some squeals of joy rather than moans of frustration.
After all, grammar can be fun! "Conjunction, junction, what's your function? Hooking up words, and phrases and clauses..."
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