SchoolHouse Rock Grammar Rock - E

Schoolhouse Rock arrives on the Leapster.

Publisher: LeapFrog Category/Genre: Leapster - Educational Platform: Leapster Price: $25 Graphics: OK Playability: Easy to play Reading Level: 1st grade -up Release Date: 07/25/2005 ESRB Rating: E

Common Sense Note

This software for the Leapster offers about 20 minutes of fun animated songs about grammar rules and one not-so-fun game show game. Leapster owners are used to more content for their $25.

Parents might want to talk about the grammar rules that kids will learn in the animated song videos.

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Common Sense Review

Reviewed By: Jinny Gudmundsen

SchoolHouse Rock, a popular Saturday morning television series in the 1970's, boogies its way onto the Leapster handheld system in SchoolHouse Rock Grammar Rock, an interactive title that should offer more value for the money.

In SchoolHouse Rock Grammar Rock, kids listen to songs, watch animations, and read highlighted subtitles to learn grammar rules. Like their baby-boomer parents, kids find out about conjunctions by watching and listening to the "Conjunction Junction What's Your Function" song. To learn about verbs, youngsters watch a little boy at the movie theater, where he sees sliding, gliding, flying and more on the big screen. In another animated song, a little girl explains that nouns are "any person you can know; any place that you can go; any thing that you can know...." Other song videos demonstrate the use of prepositions and pronouns by using silly ants and kangaroos. These 1970s animated spots transfer well to the Leapster format.

After viewing a song animation, kids become contestants in the Grammar Slammer Game, a game show that tests their knowledge of the part of speech just introduced. Players are shown three word choices and asked to select the one that matches the part of speech on which they are being drilled. The game show can be played by one or two players.

The Grammar Slammer is the only game included in this title, and it's more of a drill than a fun game. Plus, while the songs are clever in how they teach grammar concepts, they last for about 20 minutes, so overall, Grammar Rock doesn't offer much value for its $25 price tag.

The same criticisms hold true for SchoolHouse Rock America Rock, a second Leapster title with similar format that includes animated songs about American History and government.

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