Quack! Media’s 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 Mexico’s Wildest Trails." He's also been
on the other side of the camera for MTV’s 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
e-mail protected from spam bots
TEACHER'S
DISCOVERY
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/7/prweb141235.htm