Remember Schoolhouse Rock? No? Then fuck off, you're too young to be on my blog. *This does not apply to anyone raised outside of America - including Aussies down under, Aussies in Japan, Crazy Ass Canadians, or hot Scots. Schoolhouse Rock was a series of short educational cartoons shown in the 70's on Saturday mornings. Not only were they educational, but great sing-a-longs as well. Just ask my parents, whom I woke up every Saturday morning with my horrific off-key singing, sugared up on tooth-decaying cereal while dancing around the living room in my pajamas. I credit these cartoons with teaching me all about the solar system, how to count by fives, and the difference between conjunctions and adjectives. Also my times tables. Basically if not for Schoolhouse Rock, I'd still be in the third grade.I wanted to share these with my students, but I was concerned the cartoons might be a bit dated and boring to them. The first time I showed The Best of Schoolhouse Rock (which has the top 25 videos as voted by fans - how cool is that!), they showed mild interest. When I went to return the video to the library, they asked if they could see it one more time. The next time they started getting some of the lyrics and were shouting out along with some of the songs. Now, they would rather watch Schoolhouse Rock than Shrek. I can't even begin to tell you what a kick I get from seeing their reactions to these old cartoons. I show them on our Fun Friday afternoons, and every time I do I tell myself I'm going to get some paperwork done. But instead I get lost in watching them respond to all my old favorites. So I thought I'd share with you their absolute favorite - the one that always gets them singing along just the way I did when I was a little girl, dancing around the living room in my pajamas.
Enjoy!
36 comments:
I used to LOVE Schoolhouse Rock! The one I remember the best explained how a bill becomes a law...
I was always sad that there wasn't a Canadian version.
The last party I was at played the Schoolhouse Rock CD all night - it was fab!
OK, I'm going to 'fuck-off' but I just want to make it clear that I don't know this show because I'm an Aussie not because I wouldn't have gone ballistic over this show as a kid in the 70's!
Thanks for the intro, it's freak'n fantastic!
Princess - I think the bill one was number one. Good choice. It was a little over my kids' heads, but they love the song.
Rich - Aussies, and foreigners in general, are excluded from fucking off. I should add that in. I'm glad you liked it! Go straight to YouTube and look for the rest of them. Especially Interjections! And Conjunction Junction! And Electricity! And Three is a Magic Number! Oh they are all good!
Great. Now I'm going to spend the next week annoying everyone by counting out everything by fives! And singing while I do it!
I loved schoolhouse rock! I actually have "A Noun's a Person Place or Thing" on my iPod-my favorite!
i have the schoolhouse rock cd set.
i remember schoolhouse rock. i was one of those non-singalong kinda kids that would look at other kids who sang along and say "dude that's embarrassing...you obviously couldn't carry a note with a forklift. why even bother."
I have the Grammar and Science Videos. I was so excited when they released them.
Interjection! and Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla were my favs.
Which was your fav?
I'm a "Three is a Magic Number" person myself.
But I'm a perv.
I have the two DVD set!
As I kid I liked "Conjunction Junction" and "Lolly Lolly Lolly" and "Bill," but now there's a budget one where the dad sings, "I used to think I was a big cheese til everyone took a slice" and now I like that one.
oh, thanks for posting that! I grew up watching those, too...and play them for my 6 year old who LOVES them.
I'm with ubermilf: those are my top three also! Lolly, lolly, lolly, get your adverbs here!
and poor bill--on capitol hill. he was so dejected at the beginning of his song.
my colleague roger still shows Grammar Rock to his tenth graders and they are "bout it bout it." props to Schoolhouse Rock, you.
Here was me about to say my goodbyes after being instructed to 'fuck off', but I have now just read the small print and have discovered that Aussies are exempt. Phew... that was close.
I LOVED Schoolhouse Rock! They don't make shows like that anymore. I even miss Electric Company!
BRILLIANT! Well done. Not everything has to be MTV era, video game fast and crazy internet tinged to be great for kids. WOOT!!
I love Schoolhouse Rock!
But how I hope and pray that I will,
But today I am still just a bill.
Bill - go on over to YouTube. You'll be singing them all by the weekend.
Darth - hey stranger! Of course you do. You're a rocker.
Kendra - I bet you dance around in your pajamas to them.
Jamwall - dude! How can you not sing along? There's just no way.
Katarina - we watched a bunch of them today, and I still can't decide between the one I posted, Interjections!, Conjunction Junction, Three is a Magic Number, or Interplanet Janet - cause she's a galaxy girl.
Sysm - you totally read my mind.
Ubie - oh my gosh, I almost forgot about Lolly Lolly Lolly get your adverbs here! I love listening to my kids sing that one.
April - there is nothing better than watching a new generation appreciate these!
Nance - I think I'd show them to my students no matter the age. They are so much fun.
Kallun - I would never tell Aussies to fuck off! Ok, there is this one guy...
Anathema - the old shows are the best. I wish they would show these again on Saturday mornings.
Phoenix - it amazes me how much the kids love these. Although today one of my kids said that the Figure Eight song sounded like funeral music.
Flounder - and I'm sittin' here on Capitol Hill....
I loved Schoolhouse Rock. I recently downloaded the Blind Melon cover of Three is the Magic Number. I learned so much via these great cartoons.
Oh. My. God. I had no idea these were on YouTube!
Like a lot of people here, I loved Conjunction Junction what's your function? And the "Bill" one. Oh my!
Isn't cool how kids gravitate to this great old stuff? I figured with all the high tech, computer animation he's exposed to, the Boy would poo poo the cartoons I loved as a kid, but he LOVES Tom and Jerry and Looney Toons. It's so great.
School House Rock rawks. I'm rushing over to YT to check it all out.
I knew about it, but never watched. This is because I was only allowed to come out from under the stairs once a day for 20 minutes to get enough sunlight to avoid Vitamin D Deficiency.
We play "Three is a Magic Number" on the DVD in my classroom at least two or three times a week.
There is no happier sight or sound than a class of third graders (who were born 25 years after the song came out) all thumping on their desks and singing "somewhere in the ancient, mystic trinity... you get three... it's a magic number..."
Oh yeah, and the "Interjections!" song.
"Yow! That's not fair, giving a guy a shot down there!"
Some things are timeless.....
I also stop what I'm doing and watch their reactions. Sometimes it almost brings tears to my eyes. It's like being in a time machine... until I became a teacher, I had forgotten what it was really like to be eight years old and grooving on Schoolhouse Rock...!
conjunction junction is still the single best song ever written.
They showed these when I was a kid in the 80s. I disagree with Joey Lawrence. The song about the bill becoming a law is the best.
"I'm just a bill..."
Beans and rice and tooth brushing techniques. Those are my Schoolhouse Rock memories. Man, I loved those little things.
you schoolhouse rock my world brookey.
I used to love that show. Sigh. Why are we shown Spongebob these days and not great educational cartoons.
sucks.
My personal favorite was... "You can skaaaate a figure eight..." though the bill sitting on the hill is always a winner. Saturdays were an exciting time.
That show was so cool! ...and it actually taught me more than most of anything in the first 5 years of school in my little texas town!
I can still sing the songs!
HOLY SHIT!!!!! I just realized that the whole 5 x 20 is 100 and if you subtract 15 you get 85 so you subtract that ... . anyways, I just realized that Schoolhouse Rock just might be the way I learned to multiply and do fractions. They'd revive Schoolhouse Rock today if they figure out a way to make $$$ off of marketing it somehow.
I remember Schoolhouse Rock. That's how I learned about grammatical conjunctions.
This Canadian totally remembered Schoolhouse Rock! After all, our Canadian content was a little lacking. Though we did have our own version of Sesame Street.
Whew that went too fast for me. I feel like I should watch again and take notes.
Don't forget "Denver, The Last Dinosaur!" He's your friend and a whole lot more!!!
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