Review and Giveaway of Rock 'N Learn Phonics Volumes 1 & 2

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It's almost back to school time and wow, summer has just flown by! I'm getting prepared for the beginning of the school year, and I'm sure that parents and students are doing the same. Recently I was given the opportunity to review two awesome videos that I will be using in my fourth grade classroom: Rock 'N Learn Phonics Volume 1 and 2. Not only was I given two copies to review, I was also told that I could give one lucky winner both dvd's!

Rock 'N Learn was started in the mid-80's by two brothers with an idea and the desire to make learning fun. After more than twenty years, the Rock 'N Learn company has earned awards and honors for their products combining music and learning. The company has more than 50 products that both teachers and parents can use.

I started with Volume 1 which is recomended for ages 6 and up. As a teacher I immediately appreciated the fun interactive component to the video. The DVD features approximately 70 minutes of learning about vowel and consonant sounds through animations, music, and read-along sentences and stories. The songs are catchy and kinda made me want to tap my toe to the beat! I liked that the video included read along stories to help students with comprehension. One of the keys to learning and retention is repetition, so the practice stories are wonderful!

Volume two goes into more depth with vowels and consonants and builds on what is taught in the first volume. This video is also engaging and entertaining. Volume two has the same fun characters as volume one.It gives important rules for learning phonics and, like the first video, includes plenty of fun animation and music. Both videos use a mouth that speaks the words so that children can see how to pronounce the words.

As a teacher, I like the fact that music is used to teach and reinforce the vowel and consonant sounds. The presentation is appropriate for learning and I plan on using these videos in my classroom of 4th graders for differentiated instruction which is teaching to the level of the students. I often work with groups of students based on their level of need, so I feel that these videos would be of benefit to my students. From my experience my students love to sing along to videos and they also enjoy videos with animated characters. There is also a website of worksheets that go along with the videos. Click here to check it out.

As a parent I like the fact that the videos have a lot of information- both are 70 minutes or more. I don't think that these videos would be ones that I would show all at one time. Sometimes children (or really all of us) can get overwhelmed with too much information coming at one time so I were a parent showing these videos I would break them down into segments. That is what I will do with these in my classroom as well. Parents can get as involved as they care to with the videos, or children can also watch the videos independently. The worksheets can be used to complement the information learned in the videos, and there are even extension lessons.

Buy it: If you are not a winner of this contest, you can buy these and more Rock 'N Learn videos from Barnes & Noble, Amazon, or even from Rock 'N Learn.




Win it: I have the opportunity to give both Phonics Volume 1 and Volume 2 to one lucky person (Valued at $35-$40)! Even if you don't have a child is there someone you know who this would make a good gift for? Oh, and don't forget to leave a contact email so that I can reach you if you are a winner! Here's how you enter:

Mandatory entry: Subscribe to my blog. You must make sure to click on the verification link in the email sent to you when you subscribe (If you are already a subscriber then pick one of the additional entries to participate). Then click here to go to Rock 'N Learn and tell me which product you would like and leave me a comment. This counts for three entries. If you skip this step your other entries will not count.

Additional entries (leave a comment to let me know):

+ Put my blog button on your blog (if you have at least 50 followers or subscribers- worth three entries).

+ Follow me on twitter: @mysshopnteacher. Leave a comment with your twitter name. I may tweet about additional opportunities to enter so this is a good way to stay in touch(two entries)!

+ Tweet about this contest on twitter- you can do this once daily(two entries). Copy and paste:

Rock 'N Learn Phonics Volume 1 and 2 giveaway for ages 6+ ($35-$40 value) ends 9/4. Follow @mysshopnteacher to learn more.

+ Follow me on Google friend connect(two entries).

+ Like me on Facebook . My facebook name is Mystery Shopping Teacher(two entries).

+ Like Rock 'N Learn on Facebook. Tell them that the Mystery Shopping Teacher sent you(two entries)!

+ Post the following on your facebook page and copy and paste the link in a comment(two entries). Paste this:

I'm entering the Rock 'N Learn Phonics Volume 1 and 2 giveaway for ages 6+ ($35-$40 value) and you should too! Go to http://www.mysteryshoppingteacher.blogspot.com/ for your chance to win!

+ Follow my blog on networked blogs(one entry).

+ Leave me a comment telling me where you saw this giveaway posted (one entry).

+ Leave a comment on any other post on my site (one entry).

The contest is open to individuals 18 or older. This giveaway is open until 9/4/10. I will pick one winner via Random.org and will post the winner on my blog and send an email. The winner will have 48 hours to give me shipping information or else an alternate will be chosen.You have lots of chances to win!



Disclosure: This is a non-paid post and all opinions mine! Rock 'N Learn provided me with Phonics Volume 1 and 2 to review. Thanks Rock 'N Learn!