Genre: Childrens educational
Age rage: 4-7 years
Runtime: Approx. 72 mintutes (including extras)
Studio: Word Smart Productions
Emma's Extravagant Expedition - Overview
Emma's Extravagant Expedition takes kids on a storybook adventure that will entertain and educate. With the goal of advanced vocabulary building in mind, a story is narrated to kids as they see the pages with the pictures and the text. The pictures are not animated (the illustrations don't move), so attention is drawn to both the illustration and the words.
The story follows Emma the Embellished Elephant on her adventure in the woods, where she meets Molly the Monotonous Monkey and Boris the Benevolent Bear. Following the story is a vocabulary building exercise which helps kids remember the words from the story and practice picking the correct meaning multiple choice style.
Photo © Word Smart Productions
Emma's Extravagant Expedition - Guide Review
I am ecstatic about the concept behind Emma's Extravagant Expedition. Building vocabulary is highly important for kids, and a strong vocabulary will serve them well throughout their school years and beyond. The words used in the story of Emma's Extravagant Expedition are awesome and fun for kids to learn.
The beautiful illustrations on the DVD enhance the story and provide lovable characters for children to see. The story itself, however, is not the most exciting tale ever told, and the illustrations are not animated. Watching the DVD is literally like watching the pages of a book. Also, it is disappointing that the text is not highlighted or animated as the words are being read.
This DVD would have been better with animated illustrations, a more involved story, and highlighted text; that being said, the DVD is still fairly entertaining and wonderfully educational for kids. I hope that Word Smart Productions continues to expand this line of vocabulary building DVDs, and I recommend Emma's Extravagant Expedition for children ages 4-7.
Emma's Extravagant Expedition - Vocabulary Builder
In addition to the read along story, the Emma's Extravagant Expedition DVD contains an interactive vocabulary builder. The feature takes select vocabulary words from the story and asks kids the meaning of the word in multiple choice format. The word is shown on the screen and repeated several times by the narrator, viewing kids are encouraged to repeat the word as well, and then kids can choose the meaning of the word from a list of three choices. They also get a hint from the story, just in case they need a little help. (This feature does not use the remote control to make the choices, but it does allow plenty of time for children to pick an answer before the correct answer is highlighted.)
Photo © Word Smart Productions
Emma's Extravagant Expedition - Expand Upon the Curriculum
- Choose a couple of words from the DVD and try to use them in conversations with your child for the next couple of days. Hearing the words in different contexts will help solidify the meaning and integrate the words into your child's vocabulary.
- Play a "word of the day" game. Each day, pick a good vocabulary word, help your child understand what it means and how it is used, and challenge everyone to use the word as many times as they can throughout the day.
- Try to read books with your child that contain slightly more sophisticated vocabulary than he is used to. Reading in general is an essential way to increase vocabulary, and adding new books will help expand your child's literary knowledge. Liz, About.com's guide to childrens books, has some great ideas for books according to age and grade. You can also ask your child's teacher about books that would be most beneficial based on your child's reading level.
