Rock 'n Learn Reading Comprehension Review - and giveaway! {School Rules}

Reading comprehension is something that my daughter struggled with last year.  In fact, it was the lowest grade she got consistently on all of her report cards.  She wasn't doing badly, just struggling a bit.  That's why when the school offered extra reading comprehension help at the end of the year in preparation for the state SOLs, we agreed to let her go.  It's so important to build your children up with the right building blocks for academic success. Learning how to read for the meaning of the story is something a child needs to learn early on to be successful.  Rock 'n Learn's Reading Comprehension DVD makes learning to read for meaning fun too! 

Rock 'n Learn's Reading Comprehension goes over some test taking strategies.  Reading the questions first is something that might not occur to a child to do.  But taking the time to read the questions at the end will gear their mind toward looking for the answer as they read so that they're getting the important concepts that the author of the story is trying to convey.

Here's what my 6 year old had to say about this DVD:

"I learned a lot of stuff.  One of them was that if three of them are right, then the answer is all of the above."  (The DVD taught him to read all of the answers, determine whether they were correct or not, and if all were correct, to choose all of the above vs. any of the individual answers.

I asked him, "How do you do well on a test?"

"You read the questions and then you go to the story and then you underline answers that you think are right and put the number you guess they are and then after you finish that, go back to the questions and try to figure out the right answer.  Read the question carefully."  (His run-on sentence, not mine!)

My 10 year old (soon to be 5th grader) found the DVD to be "too kiddy".  Perhaps it was the pencil emcee?  She did watch the video and say that many of the test taking strategies presented were ones she covered in the SOL academy class.  Her one beef was that the DVD suggested that you read the questions first, and then read the story.  She says that they take tests on computers and the questions are given on screen only after you've read the story. You can't see the questions beforehand, so in that case, it makes it harder for kids to know what they should be focusing on in the story.

Overall:  I liked this video for my son, who will be going into 1st grade this year.  He's a fairly strong reader, having been in the advanced reading group at the end of last year.  He really liked the DVD and after the kids watched Reading Comprehension, they got out the other Rock 'n Learn titles in our library to watch them again.  Be sure to check out Mark of the Pencil (www.markothepencil.com) where you can print out free study materials.

Save some bucks!   Rock 'n Learn has offered me a coupon code to share with my readers.  You can use coupon code JQ7711 to get 25% off at RockNLearn.com. 

GIVEAWAY!  Enter to win your own copy of Reading Comprension, or a different Rock 'n Learn DVD if you had a different one in mind.  This giveaway is open to U.S. residents who are 18 and older. This giveaway ends at 11:59 PM on August 11, 2011, with the winner chosen on or about August 12, 2011 via Random.org.  Winner will have 48 hours to respond to an email requesting shipping information.  If winner does not respond within that time frame, I must choose a different winner.  Be sure that I have a way to reach you - leave your email in the mandatory comment or ensure that your email is available in your public profile.  If you win, I need to be able to contact you.

Other Blog Pop! blogs will be hosting Rock 'n Learn reviews and giveaways during our School Rules event.  Be sure to check out the other blogs hosting giveaways to increase your chance of winning. Visit Dad of Divas to enter his contest!

• Mandatory entry:  Visit Rock 'n Learn (www.RockNLearn.com) and peruse their offerings.  Let me know what other DVD there would be a great learning tool for your child.  You must do this entry to have any other entries count.

Other ways to get additional entries - you can do any of the following for one entry each.  Please leave a separate comment for each action:

• Join Rock 'n Learn's mailing list for special offers.  Please only do this if you are genuinely interested in the product. (Link to do so is on Rock 'n Learn's website, left side bar.)If you joined last time I had a contest, just let me know in a comment! 

• Follow me on Twitter! If you already do, just let me know. 

• Become my Google Friend (right side bar).  If we are already friends, just leave a comment letting me know.

• Tweet my giveaway on Twitter and include @PinchingAbe in your tweet.  Sharing tools at the bottom of this blog post. You can do this once daily.  Leave a comment w/link to your tweet.

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• "Like" Rock 'n Learn on Facebook  Come back and leave a comment letting me know you did it. 

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• Use the store locator to find a store near you that sells Rock 'n Learn DVDs.  Please list the store nearest in your comment. Good luck to all! 

Disclosure:   Rock 'n Learn provided me with a complimentary DVD for review purposes.  This blog post is not compensated and the opinions expressed herein are 100% my own or derived from my family's experience with this product.