Quack! Medias SAT* Vocabulary Videos Give Students the Edge on Big SAT Test Day
Quack! SAT* Vocabulary Success Video series covers 100 vocabulary words most commonly appearing on the SAT with the clever use of hilarious movie images, voice overs, and new music by Ghostly International, and promises to give kids the edge on SAT test day while entertaining the heck out of them. Teachers polled, have given the video series two thumbs up.
Ann Arbor, MI (PRWEB) July 15, 2004 -- Quack!, a young upstart video company in Ann Arbor, Michigan, has produced a video series that covers 100 vocabulary words most commonly appearing on the SAT – tossing out traditionally boring and stuffy educational video format, and replacing with edgy, hilarious, and occasionally ridiculous elements. They use tiny segments (less than 10 seconds) of classic and contemporary films, that clearly and cleverly define words such as: didactic, vacuous, recondite, loquacious and 96 others. Can you even pronounce those words? The Quack! team has given new life to the Beav, Stallone, and Batman, among others, dressing up movie snatches with funny voiceovers and original hip music by Ghostly International. The video series is an unconventional and refreshing approach that promises to give kids the edge at test-time.
Teacher's Discovery®, a long-established supplemental educational company in Michigan, contracted with Quack! to produce the SAT videos for their English catalog division.
At a recent educational conference in New Orleans where the SAT video series debuted, educators were in stitches. It's time for a little SAT levity, a little r & r from pre SAT stress – and kids actually learn something too! If you haven't noticed, SAT jitters abound all over the U.S. – teachers, parents, and students are questioning the revised SAT test that debuts in 2005. In Georgia, that state's School Superintendent, Kathy Cox, is working closely with 30 school districts to make sure their teachers have the tools to get their students ready for the SAT tests next year. Some parents will spend as much as $800 to get their kids ready to take the new SAT tests next year.
Says company spokesperson Al McWilliams of the educational video series, "The whole idea behind the Quack! SAT* videos is to have fun! Why make things worse by not enjoying it? We think that if you're going to do something, you should get some laughs in along the way. We guarantee that we had fun making these videos and learned what words like desiccate and pugnacious mean."
Recent comment by a Clio, Michigan Advanced College Prep Writing English teacher – "my students actually use the words! I love the videos! Their pre test and post-test scores dramatically change after viewing the Quack! SAT videos."
Note: The Quack! team comprises of a group of University of Michigan grads living in Ann Arbor. They took on the video project with no preconceived notions and lots of fresh enthusiasm, so the videos border on 'too risky' for a few conservative schools. However, recently Al McWilliams remarked to me, "Mmmmm, maybe we edited out too much of the really juicy stuff. We're not getting complaints from very many teachers." McWilliams is a savage on the mountain trails when he's not behind a camera…in fact, you can read all about Al in May's Bicycling Magazine, feature story – "Pedal, You Savage! Conquering Mexicos Wildest Trails." He's also been on the other side of the camera for MTVs International Road Rules, the grandfather of reality programming.
Quack! has also produced a series of Reinforcement videos for Spanish students, which is available in the Teacher's Discovery catalogs for Spanish teachers.
*SAT is a registered trademark of the College Entrance Examination Board, which does not endorse this product.
Contact Information:
Judy Almeranti
248-628-5975
jalmeranti@yahoo.com
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