Grammar Jammar is a 40-minute musical DVD created by third grade teacher Crystal Mills. Crystal turned her passion for teaching and musical theater into 13 catchy songs covering grammar concepts. This product is appropriate for elementary age children
At the beginning of the DVD, Miss Wow (portrayed by Crystal) is discouraged about how her class groans when it's time for grammar. She begins to daydream about grammar being exciting instead of boring. In the first song "Grammar Jammar", the students are transformed into students who enjoy learning grammar. For the next song, "Vowels," the class is outside on the playground, where the dictionary explains the difference between short and long vowel sounds and that all the other letters are consonants. "Sneaky E" is sung by the school clock. The characters in this song, dressed in black, are carrying letters. Each time they make a short vowel word, the "sneaky e" sneaks to the end of the word and changes it. The cabaret-style "8 Parts of Speech" describes the eight different parts of speech. "Nouns" is sung by the fish, who is the teacher's pet. The class ends up in the fish bowl with the fish as it sings about nouns. "Verb Is the Word" is a rap song sung by a ruler. It describes the different types of verbs and gives examples. "To Be or Not To Be" is sung by a British flag. This short song conjugates "to be" and explains that it is the most frequently used verb in the English language. "Adjectives Taking on Adverbs" is sung on the basketball court and teaches the difference between adjectives and adverbs. "Subject Predicate" is sung during a 1950s high school dance; it teaches that every sentence needs a subject and predicate. The song "4 Kinds of Sentences" is sung by a crayon. Declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory are taught in this song. "Compounds," a rock song sung by Miss Wow, teaches how compound sentences, subjects, predicates, and words are formed. "Aint Isn't Aint" is a county song sung by the flag; it explains how contractions are formed. At the end of each song, the concept is explained further to the class.
My children have really enjoyed watching and singing along to Grammar
Jammar. Even my two-year-old will ask to watch it! The songs are catchy and easy to learn. It's a fun and easy way to review basic grammar. I thought the price of $25 was a little high for a 40-minute DVD; however, my children have really enjoyed it.
Product review by Stacy Rocha, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, February 2010
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