How To Build Student Connections Using Music To Teach In The Classroom

How to build student connections using music to teach in the classroom

Hip-hop, a cultural movement started by Black and Latinx youth in New York in the early ’70s, is a great launching point for using music to teach. When used as a part of instruction, hip-hop can help to engage students, bring curriculum to life, and reinforce core knowledge and skills, including vocabulary support and reading comprehension. How can music be used in education? Hip-hop pedagogy, essentially applying hip-hop elements to teaching methods, gives students a chance to share their knowledge with other classmates and analyze experiences of their own as well as others’ in a meaningful way. It can act…

Read on!
9 Alternative Ed Tech Funding Resources For Your Classroom

9 Alternative ed tech funding resources for your classroom

Flocabulary understands the budgetary constraints many US schools face. As the need for supplemental ed tech resources increases, these financial limitations have proven to be more than a mere inconvenience. These powerful tools that boost student engagement and achievement should not be considered luxuries, but necessities that are accessible to all academic institutions, no matter their budgetary circumstance.

Read on!
Banned Books Week: What’s The Hype?

Banned books week: what’s the hype?

Flocab LOVES librarians! I mean, we even have a whole rap about it. And this is a special week for our favorite book-loving friends. Between September 27th and October 3rd, bookworms all over the country celebrate Banned Books Week!  So why are librarians putting on their party hats for a bunch of banned and challenged books?  According to the American Library Association, Banned Books Week is a celebration of the freedom to read. The week brings the topic of censorship into focus, and celebrates that despite some texts being banned, most books have remained available, allowing continued access to information,…

Read on!
What Are Common Core Standards For Flocabulary Language Arts?

What are common core standards for Flocabulary language arts?

The Common Core English Language Arts standards spiral learning in a smart way. A new concept is introduced in one grade, and then practiced in later grades as students work slowly and confidently toward mastery. And Flocabulary's ELA songs and videos will help teachers to introduce and practice everything from vocabulary to grammar to reading and writing strategies. Read on to see the Common Core alignment for our ELA songs or view our math CCSSS alignment here. You can click on each image to view the aligned song or video! Vocabulary Alignment Increased vocabulary is crucial for reading in all…

Read on!
Classroom Design And Student Engagement

Classroom Design and Student Engagement

Engaging learning spaces are as much about physical and interior design as it is instructional: one study found that the physical space of schools can positively (or negatively) affect a student’s academic performance by as much as 25% in one school year. Businesses are moving away from the Office Space days of cubicles and fluorescent lighting, opting instead for couches, standing desks, bean bags and other methods of creating comfortable environments. (In fact, I’m writing this sprawled out on a couch tucked away in a cozy corner of Flocab HQ.)  The same should go for classrooms, and yet it has…

Read on!