If you didn't know, now you know: by the time you're pouring OJ on Friday morning, there's a brand new, TOTALLY AWESOME, current events rap music video waiting for you at the Week in Rap That's right folks: In 2 minutes, Flocabulary gives you a week's worth of current events, rapped and loaded with relevant, engaging educational power. Subscribe to get the link emailed to you every week. Or just come by the site with on Fridays, and enjoy. You're welcome.
Flocabulary is all about good times in the classroom - as long as valuable goals are being advanced, of course! Here are some great activities for the beginning of the school year. 1. Take as Much as You Want! During the first "circle time" activity, have a roll of toilet paper on hand. Explain to the youth that they will need this for the next activity. Tell students that you're going to pass around the roll. Invite each student to take as much as they want. After everyone has had a good laugh over the amount of paper they took,…
Shelby Oates from Summerour Middle School (just outside of Atlanta, GA) is an educator with a never-ending supply of tricks up her sleeve - to motivate students, engage them in learning, and help them achieve to their highest potential. Check out some ideas she recently submitted for use with Flocabulary's Word Up Project program! ------------------------- "I have begun to use the program! My kids were excited just from the mention of the name! We have deemed our Friday's, "Flocabulary Friday" and though sometimes we have to miss a week due to other deadlines, it has become such a reward for…
How much time do you give your students to answer questions you pose in class? Most teachers give students a second or less to respond, but a large body of research shows that this is far too little. Studies have found that teachers achieve the best results when they pause for three to seven seconds after asking a higher-level question. When given this time, students respond more thoughtfully and are able to make more meaningful connections to the content. But more time isn't always better. Studies also show that waiting too long creates apathy and boredom in the classroom. Giving…
Joe Ocando was teaching middle school in Washington Heights NYC as part of the Teach For America program when he thought of starting Rhyme n' Learn. Inspired by Flocabulary, and "particularly concerned with the low numbers of US citizens in graduate STEM programs," Joe began creating math and science raps. Citing research results from the Teacher's College at Columbia University, Joe continues to create high-interest "edu-raps," and bolstering what more and more people already know: hip-hop in the classroom works!
