Educators and trainers take note!
Take a moment to check out “Weird Al” Yankovic’s “Word Crimes” video. Then take a moment to reflect about the elements that “Weird Al” and Jarrett Heather used in this piece…what comes to your mind?
For me — and regardless what you think of his music here — “Weird Al” and Jarrett have come up with a solid piece of pedagogy here. In fact, this could be a fun intro piece to several classes out there!
I say this because it’s a clever, fun way to introduce and discuss grammar. It illustrates some examples of the sorts of mistakes we make in our use of language and words, but it does so via the creative use of animation, music, video, social media, text, graphics and more! Folks (of all ages!) will find themselves learning while they’re having some fun. This playful use of multimedia gets your attention. In fact, for me, the elements in this piece provide a recipe for maximum engagement.