I do not know what prompted the latest surge of humming Schoolhouse Rock ditties in our apartment, but for whatever reason we have. The problem of course is that the last time I really watched them was 30 years ago. In that time the tunes and the words can really get confused so I took it upon myself to watch them again and at least learn them well enough to hum them correctly. In doing so I found out how really excellent these three minute lessons were.

Grammar Rock

There were 7 original “grammar” lessons and 2 additional that came out like 5 year later. When you talk to people about Schoolhouse Rock one of the two people really remember is “Conjunction Junction”. What I did not realize was how in depth they went into conjunctions, even to explain the symbolic logic behind them. I was impressed. Here is the list of Grammar Rock videos, mostly compliments of YouTube.com:

Unpack Your Adjectives
Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get Your Adverbs
Conjunction Junction
Interjections
Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla
Verb: That’s What’s Happening
A Noun is a Person, Place or Thing
Busy Prepositions
The Tale of Mr. Morton

History Rock

History Rock has the number two most remembered lesson, “I’m Just a Bill”. Once again, time had eroded that one more than I expected and I was leaving out the whole refrain. Never the less it is one that once you know it you can’t help but love. In fact most of them are like that. I will say this, I would never have passed the assignment on the Preamble without Schoolhouse rock. If it weren’t for the little tune I would never have remembered it in front of a class; that I do remember.

No More Kings
Fireworks
The Shot Heard Round the World
The Preamble
Elbow Room
The Great American Melting Pot
Mother Necessity
Sufferin’ Till Sufferage
I’m Just a Bill
Three Ring Government
Electoral College

Multiplication Rock

I guess that the 1’s and 10’s times tables would have been too easy for kids to learn and thus they never did make them. I did not know that till I went to look up all the videos. They made “0” and did 11’s and 12’s (Little Twelve Toes being my personal favorite) to complete what most third graders are assigned, but I guess they were on a limited budget (which I can totally believe).

My Hero, Zero
Elementary My Dear
Three is a Magic Number
The Four-Legged Zoo
Ready or not, Here I Come
I Got Six
Lucky Seven Sampson
Figure Eight
Naughty Number Nine
The Good Eleven
Little Twelve toes

Science Rock

For whatever reason I did not really remember any of the Science Rock segments until I saw them again; then the memories flooded back. Most of these cover “body” issues like the bones and nervous system, but several others categories of science get touched on as well. You can see where if they tried to do justice to even a part of the sciences they would still be making these lessons even today.

The Body Machine
Do the Circulation
Electricity, Electricity
The Energy Blues
Interplanet Janet
Telegraph Line
Them Not-So-Dry Bones
Victim of Gravity
Greatest Show On Earth

Money Rock

During the early 80’s there was demand for more Schoolhouse Rock so they did a whole series on “money”. I do not remember these from when I was young; I guess was done with Saturday morning cartoons by then. Watching them now however, you can see the spark in them (if a bit more mature) that was present in the older ones. They are certainly fun to watch.

Where the Money Goes
Walking On Wallstreet
$7.50 Once a Week
Dollars and Sense
Tyrannosaurus Debt
The Check’s in the Mail
Tax Man Max
This for That

Computer Rock

Bet you never heard of that one huh? How about “Scooter Computer and Mr. Chips”? No? Well, neither had I until I went looking at all the stuff that was available because of course I have to have all the “lessons”. I could not find any video’s on these, but I did find some audio clips. Being a computer geek, I would actually love to see these vid’s so if you know where they are posted, let me know.

Scooter Computer Intro
Scooter Computer Hardware
Scooter Computer Software
Scooter Computer Number Cruncher

Satire Rock

Of course stuff this good has been satired a bunch of times, look up on YouTube.com for more of it. Here is a selection of the best that I think actually does justice to the Schoolhouse Rock genre.

Nike Ad (to Three is a Magic Number)
Emperors and Pirates
Mad TV “Nouns"
Dysfunction Junction
Conspiracy Theory Rock
Exclamations
Nutrition

I really love this stuff, so if you know of more of it, let me know. I do know there were several “Afternoon Specials” that had this stuff in it. If you remember them, pass that along too!