®Videos by Subject
®
Videos by Subject
Grammar
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
English grammar is serious stuff, and there's only so much that can be
done to make it entertaining. But the Standard Deviants, an energetic troupe of
young performers whose specialty is making serious academic subjects engaging,
happily dive into what they call "The Split-Infinitive World of English
Grammar." The lessons on this DVD have been prepared by a panel of serious
academics, but flashy graphics abound. And the performers do their best to liven
up presentations of basic concepts. Nouns, verbs, adjectives, and other parts of
speech are explained with some offbeat examples (for instance, a film of a
lizard is used to demonstrate why "gecko" is a common noun). While introducing a
section on verbals, a young woman mentions that a "funky thing" verbs can do is
function as other parts of speech. Eventually all parts of speech are covered,
and basic sentence structures are introduced. At the end of each set of lessons
a quiz is presented, which a student can either take or skip. After proceeding
through all the lessons on this DVD (which contains about two hours worth of
material), a student can take the "Gram Slam," a comprehensive exam. English
grammar will never be a barrel of fun, but the Standard Deviants deserve credit
for making this review course as engaging as the subject is ever likely to get.
--Robert J. McNamara --This text refers to the
DVD edition.
Click here to learn more or purchase from Amazon.com
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
This 26-minute overview of American English grammar is brought to you
by the same folks who produce and deliver the longer, nontelevised Standard
Deviants video lessons. That means the same humor, racehorse pace, and onscreen
graphics but in about a third of the time. The cast of actors defines grammar
and then dives right into the various parts of speech, defining each, outlining
rules, and following up with illustrations of use. No one is above a little
buffoonery (head-bonking, yodeling) to make a point, and skits and comical use
of old black-and-white footage are par for the course. Meanwhile, students learn
to differentiate between four kinds of nouns, two kinds of pronouns, and adverbs
vs. adjectives. Throw in prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections and
you've got yourself a thorough lesson. It's like having a troupe of fresh-faced,
hip young people take over your classroom for a half-hour. --Kimberly
Heinrichs
Click here to learn more or purchase from Amazon.com
Editorial ReviewsThough Geraldine played hard to get (uh huh),(Geraldo, if you'll recall, is a goat.) No matter. Both kinds of fans will enjoy revisiting these Saturday-morning shorts--and hopefully this video will find its way into classrooms, to boot. Clever teachers who grew up on this stuff will know how to make Schoolhouse Rock fans (ideally of type A) out of the next generation, too. --Erik Macki
Geraldo knew he'd woo her yet.
He showed his affection,
Despite her objection,
And Geraldine hollered some interjections!