Did you know that I have my M.A. in Applied Linguistics/TESOL? Yes. Which mostly means that I read a lot of studies about feral children and I earn $2 instead of $1.50 at the non-profit where I work. Fancy, right?
However! I once took a class on teaching strategies and techniques and I will forever remember that we learn and retain things well when they are set to music or a rhythm. Which is probably why I still remember the be-verbs chant from fifth grade.
And because I'm the sort of person who can talk to you about immigration reform, but didn't know that Vietnam wasn't an island, I thought we could all, perhaps, benefit from these awesome en-smartening songs! Bonus: totally impressive party trick!
However! I once took a class on teaching strategies and techniques and I will forever remember that we learn and retain things well when they are set to music or a rhythm. Which is probably why I still remember the be-verbs chant from fifth grade.
And because I'm the sort of person who can talk to you about immigration reform, but didn't know that Vietnam wasn't an island, I thought we could all, perhaps, benefit from these awesome en-smartening songs! Bonus: totally impressive party trick!
Learn the fifty states in alphabetical order! I know this song and it has come in handy more times than I care to admit.
All the countries! In the world!
Presidents' rap. You know that 23-year-old Social Studies teachers across America assign this and their eighth graders who collectively roll their eyes. But then, ten years down the road, they still remember this and win Trivial Pursuit because of it.
In addition to the Vietnam faux pas, I thought Minneapolis was the capitol of Minnesota until I was 13. And my dad's a Social Studies teacher.
I bet this was the class project of some incredibly awesome future Jay-Zs.
Do you know any great educational songs?
26 comments:
Well this one taught me how to respond if I'm being robbed AND some great aerobics moves: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRerwXWTRjM
So when I read the intro I immediately had flashbacks to this awesome little tape I used to own with all these songs by the animaniacs, and then you had the videos! There are VIDEOS!!! so I have spent the last several minutes watching the videos to these songs that I have listened to a million times (hello Ballad of Magellan!). Thanks for the wonderful trip down memory lane!
i'm 33 and moved to boston last winter . . . it was a couple of months of living here until i realized that boston is the capital of the state. i always thought it was springfield . . . and several of my friends did, as well.
We use to sing the 50 nifty United States song in Elementary school and I still use it now to impress people with my ability to name all 50 states in alphabetical order!
that history rap - wow!
My friends in Missouri all know "The Fifty Nifty," but it was never taught to me while I was in school in Connecticut OR Florida. I feel cheated!
PS. I loved Animaniacs!
in australia they had these great public service announcements ages ago. i wish they were still on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=LJQdAHlQh18&feature=PlayList&p=C978EC3F81B695E3&index=0&playnext=1
check out the vitamin one and dingalings as well.
I definitely still use the Fifty Nifty song frequently. At the end of the song our choir teacher had us sing "and Texas is the best of the Fifty Nifty United States..." and since I was a rebellious 5th grader who just moved to Texas against her will I always sang " and Texas is the WORST of the Fifty Nifty..."
Cool story huh? lol
I learned "Fifty Nifty United States" in 4th grade, and can still do the whole thing 20 years later! And I've met so many other people who know it, which has prompted more spontaneous singalongs than you might imagine. And no matter what state I'm living in, I always have to sing "...Massachusetts is the be-est of the Fifty Nifty United States..."
Plus, once you know the song you can say the states in order instead of singing them, and win bar bets.
What about School House Rock? "I'm just a bill, just a lonely old bill, sittin' here on Capitol Hill...."
They Might Be Giants have tons of great smart songs!
Some of my favorites:
The Sun Song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zbgul1NpEA8
James K. Polk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGCuDDAPggw
Meet James Ensor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFiNAGP1KlY
The Sun Song totally got me through my Astrology final.
I MADE a history rap for my 9th grade Social Studies project on the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
It went something like this:
"July 7th, 1982,
The YOA was created for you.
Reformation of an old creation,
the JJS is no longer in our nation."
and then we had:
"Lots of problems, things to solve.
Like a lack of purposeful direction.
SAY WHAT?!?!?"
I can sing Yakko's World verbatim. It got me a boyfriend once. No joke.
Ellie, I had that same tape! Remember the Panama Canal song? "High lock, up goes the ship. Low lock, the ship takes a dip..."
I love how instrumental the Animaniacs have been in educating us.
Feral children have been my new interest for the last few months :o Actually I once spent a whole afternoon reading the website you linked! It's crazy fascinating. I've had this obsession about the actual limits that separate (or not) us from animals for years now!
This said, the only educational song I remember was something silly about potatoes and numbers. Oh and also one to learn the alphabet in English (which is not my first language obviously :P). Actually that worked so well that when in 7th grade we had some kind of "alphabet competition" in my class, I arrived first, even with another girl. She was from England!! :))
I had a history class where one very couple of weeks we would have a "Tech Time" project where you had to use a piece of technology to create a presentation that sums up what we've been taught. A friend and I did a rendition of "daft Hands" about the renaissance, and another song about wars to the tune of "this land is your land".
It was pretty awesome but incredibly laborious. I never want to hear "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" ever again :P
(PS: People should learn to spell Oregon right the first time! I almost take offence to that - Just kidding.)
Oh man, Anamaniacs came out when I was in 5th or 6th grade... freaking brilliant cartoon show!
I still remember the sing-song version of the quadratic formula (x equals negative b, plus or minus square root, b squared minus 4 AC, all over 2a!) that my pre-calculus teacher taught us in 11th grade. I should mention I remembered the formula but had to google the name :) It was set to pop goes the weasel. Brilliant learning tool, I tell ya! Can't tell you how many times remembering this formula has been useful in real life! Oh wait...
This is pretty much the greatest thing I've seen all week. I'm Canadian which is probs why I've never seen most of these before, but I'm definitely putting them on my iPod---what an awesome thing to recite at cocktail parties!
Am I totally crazy/deaf, or is Ukraine not in the Animaniacs Nations of the World video?
Oh, and there is a very catchy song to learn all the elements in a Periodic Table
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGM-wSKFBpo&feature=related
I got so excited when I saw the Fifty Nifty United States song! My sister and I learned it in fifth grade and we still remember it! :D
My 20-something HS Spanish teacher totally played a tape of a rap that helped you memorize the Latin American and South American countries and their capitals. It has frequently come in handy, especially for Trivial Pursuit.
You missed "WE DIDN´T START THE FIRE" !
You missed "WE DIDN´T START THE FIRE" !
OMG I just posted something similar on WSN. I found a YouTube channel of a BBC show called "Horrible History" that does songs and skits to teach kids about important figures. Check this noise out: http://thewholestylenetwork.com/2010/08/17/learn-your-history-through-song
My favourite is the King Henry IV one. It was actually stuck in my head for two days!
The school I was teaching at until recently had chants for every lesson. Which were awesome, they were on the CD and all I ahd to do was add the vocabulary. A great idea, except I have no sense of rhythm and messed them up almost every lesson. Great way to entertain kids, but I'm not sure they learned anything from them.
Post a Comment