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Hip Hop Harry is a exploitive children's show on TLC and Discovery Kids designed to compete with Barney & Friends. However, the Hip Hop Harry show is much less imaginative. The show is set at the Hip Hop Central where Hip Hop Harry teaches children through hip-hop rhymes, continuing the further destruction of real Hip-Hop culture. Hip Hop Harry's favorite theme is "I Love To Learn" which always accompanies the shows closing after an important life lesson is presented. It also makes a mockery of Hip Hop by encouraging pre-schoolers to pose in B-Boy stances and perform other "cool" elements of Hip Hop style. For example, children dance and rhyme while doing the "prep", a popular hip-hop dance from the '80s.

Origin and development of the show

File:Hip Hop Harry2.jpg

Hip Hop Harry

Hip Hop Harry is the creation of Claude Brooks and his TV and film production company C to the B Productions. Claude created Harry after spending time with his nephews. He realized they were in need of an educational tool that would appeal to their interest in Hip Hop music. He also wanted to exploit and capitalize on the popularity of urban culture, given hip hop's ability to sell. Hip Hop Harry's rap- a-long songs are poorly engineered to reinforce important lessons, but it is blatantly obvious that elderly Caucasian scholars are attempting to be "hip" to reach a young audience. Aging, one-hit-wonder Hip Hop artists such as platinum Hip Hop artist/producer Def Jef (who hasn't had a hit since the 1980s, and even then was widely unknown) creates Hip Hop Harry's raps giving them a nostalgic edge. Def Jef is said to be pleased with having this opportunity to collect a paycheck again, because prior to being approached by the show, he was rapping about how much grease to put in the french-fry machine at the local McDonald's. Hip Hop culture is shamelessly forced into each show through movement, dancing, rapping and free style games in a manner that appeals to suburban white kids and adults who think hip hop is "cute".

Description of the Show

*Hip Hop Harry*
Hip Hop Harry
	Hip Hop Harry
Created by	Claude Brooks,C to the B Productions
Production
Running time	30 Minutes
Original release
Network	TLC, Discovery Kids
Release	present

The core approach utilized for providing the children with the educational, informational, and creative experiences contained in these four areas are the positive and age appropriate use of the popular music and dance form known as HIP HOP.

Hip Hop is one of the major music and dance voices for children and youth today. Hip Hop includes art, dance, language, and music, but equally important it is an active, creative, and engaging cultural form that extends across all ethnic, class, and gender lines throughout the world. Educators have known for a long time that children learn more when they are actively engaged and interested in the learning process. The Hip Hop Harry Program uses the popularity of this art form as a vehicle for bringing educational and entertaining ideas, positive life-lessons, and prosocial values to wanna-bes. However, it fails to bring these ideas to real urban youth, as the show avoids some of the underlying inspirations of hip-hop including poverty, civil rebellion, racism, rejection and individualism. Instead, with it's cast of mostly-white kids and the token black one, Hip Hop Harry is doing his part to give street credibility to suburban white preschoolers, while simultaneously devaluing real Hip Hop.

Reoccurring Characters

Wild Life Wendy
Pinky
Riddles
Jake Hummel

Goals of The Show

Hip Hop Harry was conceived as a family friendly entertainment and educational multimedia program. Dr. Gordon Berry, our educational advisor for the show and professor emeritus in the Graduate School of Education & Information Studies at UCLA, stated the following: "at the heart of this program was a desire to get paid, big time. Exploiting Hip Hop furthers that goal.

The basic curricular concepts running throughout Hip Hop Harry is the need to have the preschool children feel that it is a program that encourages them to be just like the "cool" rappers they see on TV, with none of that annoying violent stuff ... Like MC Hammer! Based on these concepts related to active learning that is age-appropriately paced, the following general goals and/or objectives are created for Hip Hop Harry and its commitment to maximizing profit while attempting to "cleanse" hip hop in a manner that makes it less scary to elderly grandparents. To create for preschool children a set of social, emotional, cognitive, health, physical, and creative experiences from which they can learn, understand, and apply to their own lives as they grow and develop.

External Links

@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
-'''Hip Hop Harry''' is a children's show on [[The Learning Channel|TLC]] and [[Discovery Kids]] similar to [[Barney & Friends]]. The show is set at the ''Hip Hop Central'' where Hip Hop Harry teaches children through [[hip-hop]] rhymes. Hip Hop Harry's favorite theme is "I Love To Learn" which always accompanies the shows closing after an important life lesson is presented. This show also encourages children to read and learn through personal experience and always push with a little extra effort.
+'''Hip Hop Harry''' is a exploitive children's show on [[The Learning Channel|TLC]] and [[Discovery Kids]] designed to compete with [[Barney & Friends]]. However, the Hip Hop Harry show is much less imaginative. The show is set at the ''Hip Hop Central'' where Hip Hop Harry teaches children through [[hip-hop]] rhymes, continuing the further destruction of real Hip-Hop culture. Hip Hop Harry's favorite theme is "I Love To Learn" which always accompanies the shows closing after an important life lesson is presented. It also makes a mockery of Hip Hop by encouraging pre-schoolers to pose in B-Boy stances and perform other "cool"  elements of Hip Hop style. For example, children dance and rhyme while doing the "prep", a popular hip-hop dance from the '80s.
 ==Origin and development of the show==
-[[Image:Hip_Hop_Harry2.jpg|150px|thumb|left|Hip Hop Harry]]Hip Hop Harry is the creation of [[Claude Brooks]] and his TV and film production company [[C to the B Productions]]. Claude created Harry after spending time with his nephews. He realized they were in need of an educational tool that would appeal to their interest in [[Hip Hop music]]. Hip Hop Harry's rap- a-long songs are skillfully engineered to reinforce important lessons without being to obvious. Respected Hip Hop artists such as platinum Hip Hop artist/producer [[Def Jef]] creates Hip Hop Harry's raps giving them an authentic edge. Hip Hop culture is infused into each show through movement, dancing, rapping and free style games in a manner that appeals to kids and adults from diverse backgrounds.
+[[Image:Hip_Hop_Harry2.jpg|150px|thumb|left|Hip Hop Harry]]Hip Hop Harry is the creation of [[Claude Brooks]] and his TV and film production company [[C to the B Productions]]. Claude created Harry after spending time with his nephews. He realized they were in need of an educational tool that would appeal to their interest in [[Hip Hop music]]. He also wanted to exploit and capitalize on the popularity of urban culture, given hip hop's ability to sell. Hip Hop Harry's rap- a-long songs are poorly engineered to reinforce important lessons, but it is blatantly obvious that elderly Caucasian scholars are attempting to be "hip" to reach a young audience. Aging, one-hit-wonder Hip Hop artists such as platinum Hip Hop artist/producer [[Def Jef]] (who hasn't had a hit since the 1980s, and even then was widely unknown) creates Hip Hop Harry's raps giving them a nostalgic edge. Def Jef is said to be pleased with having this opportunity to collect a paycheck again, because prior to being approached by the show, he was rapping about how much grease to put in the french-fry machine at the local McDonald's. Hip Hop culture is shamelessly forced into each show through movement, dancing, rapping and free style games in a manner that appeals to suburban white kids and adults who think hip hop is "cute".
 =Description of the Show=
-Hip Hop Harry is a preschool, dance, musically – based, and live action program designed to entertain, educate, and inform children in the 3 to 6 year old age group. The major entertainment and educational areas that form the curriculum for this program include experiences and activities related to:
-<p>
-<p>
-<ol  style="list-style-type:lower-alpha">
-<li> Social and Emotional skills
-<li> Cognitive and Educational skills
-<li> Physical and Health skills
-<li> Artistic and Creative skills.
-</ol>
-<p>
 The core approach utilized for providing the children with the educational, informational, and creative experiences contained in these four areas are the positive and age appropriate use of the popular music and dance form known as HIP HOP.
-<p>Hip Hop is one of the major music and dance voices for children and youth today. Hip Hop includes art, dance, language, and music, but equally important it is an active, creative, and engaging cultural form that extends across all ethnic, class, and gender lines throughout the world. Educators have known for a long time that children learn more when they are actively engaged and interested in the learning process. The Hip Hop Harry Program uses the popularity of this art form as a vehicle for bringing educational and entertaining ideas, positive life-lessons, and prosocial values to developing children.
+<p>Hip Hop is one of the major music and dance voices for children and youth today. Hip Hop includes art, dance, language, and music, but equally important it is an active, creative, and engaging cultural form that extends across all ethnic, class, and gender lines throughout the world. Educators have known for a long time that children learn more when they are actively engaged and interested in the learning process. The Hip Hop Harry Program uses the popularity of this art form as a vehicle for bringing educational and entertaining ideas, positive life-lessons, and prosocial values to wanna-bes. However, it fails to bring these ideas to real urban youth, as the show avoids some of the underlying inspirations of hip-hop including poverty, civil rebellion, racism, rejection and individualism. Instead, with it's cast of mostly-white kids and the token black one, Hip Hop Harry is doing his part to give street credibility to suburban white preschoolers, while simultaneously devaluing real Hip Hop.
 <!-- I'm not sure how to link this but it is from http://www.hiphopharry.com/about.htm -->
@@ Line 47: / Line 37: @@
 =Goals of The Show=
-Hip Hop Harry was conceived as a family friendly entertainment and educational multimedia program.  Dr. Gordon Berry, our educational advisor for the show and professor emeritus in the Graduate School of Education & Information Studies at UCLA, stated the following:  "at the heart of this program was a concern for fostering the growth and development of preschool age boys and girls within an entertaining format involving music, creative play, physical activity, prosocial life-lessons, and related educational experiences.”
+Hip Hop Harry was conceived as a family friendly entertainment and educational multimedia program.  Dr. Gordon Berry, our educational advisor for the show and professor emeritus in the Graduate School of Education & Information Studies at UCLA, stated the following:  "at the heart of this program was a desire to get paid, big time. Exploiting Hip Hop furthers that goal.
-<p>The basic curricular concepts running throughout Hip Hop Harry is the need to have the preschool children feel that it is a program that encourages them to explore, to create, and to learn in a safe environment of Education Through Entertainment. While the essential core of the program content centers on the social and emotional experiences of the children, the cognitive, educational, physical, health, artistic, and creative domains are all interrelated at any given point in a series of episodes. Based on these concepts related to active learning that is age-appropriately paced, the following general goals and/or objectives are created for Hip Hop Harry and its commitment to Education Through Entertainment.
+<p>The basic curricular concepts running throughout Hip Hop Harry is the need to have the preschool children feel that it is a program that encourages them to be just like the "cool" rappers they see on TV, with none of that annoying violent stuff ... Like MC Hammer! Based on these concepts related to active learning that is age-appropriately paced, the following general goals and/or objectives are created for Hip Hop Harry and its commitment to maximizing profit while attempting to "cleanse" hip hop in a manner that makes it less scary to elderly grandparents.
 To create for preschool children a set of social, emotional, cognitive, health, physical, and creative experiences from which they can learn, understand, and apply to their own lives as they grow and develop.
-<p>To create for preschool children, in an entertaining format, prosocial behaviors, life lessons, ideas, and role models from whom they can learn, using early problems-solving, interactive, and guided discovery skills, to relate and apply to their own experiences in the home, day care, preschool, and community of which they are a part.
@@ Line 60: / Line 48: @@
 * [http://kids.discovery.com Discovery Kids]
-<!-- Incorporate into Article:  Each episode of "Hip Hop Harry" has a different theme. The kids usually have a problem and then go to the "Hip Hop Central" so Harry can help them. In the first episode, one child named Cooper had a problem sharing, only for Harry to teach him the correct way to share (through the use of a hip hop song).They usually find the answer. The show attempts to relate to current trends. They then go to the library and sing the song "I love to learn" And tell what they've learned. At the end of the show, the children join Harry in what is called the "Hip Hop Harry Dance Circle" because exercise is important and dancing is Harry's favorite form of exercise. He teaches them a warm up dance that goes like this:
+<!-- Incorporate into Article:  Each episode of "Hip Hop Harry" has a different theme. The kids usually have a problem and then go to the "Hip Hop Central" so Harry can help them. In the first episode, one child named Cooper had a problem sharing, only for Harry to teach him the correct way to share (through the use of a hip hop song).They usually find the answer. The show attempts to relate to current trends, but fails miserably, as real Hip Hop uses slang, body language, and culture not reflected in the show. They then go to the library and sing the song "I love to learn" And tell what they've learned. At the end of the show, the children join Harry in what is called the "Hip Hop Harry Dance Circle" because exercise is important and dancing is Harry's favorite form of exercise. It has been described as seeing George Bush doing the moonwalk. He teaches them a warm up dance that goes like this: