Lessons and Ideas

From time to time, and to our great delight, we receive excited emails from Flocab teachers all over the country. They are teachers who love Flocabulary so much, they just can't keep it to themselves. And far better than making us feel warm and fuzzy inside (which isn't so bad...), these teachers are impacting students in amazing ways. So we wanted to share their ideas with the entire community and help everyone use Flocabulary in more empowering ways! Leah, a teacher from Brunswick, GA, wrote us earlier this month, and kindly agreed to let us share her experience. Here is…

What better day of the year to celebrate 3.14 than on March 14? Today we celebrate the number pi (π), a mathematical constant which we use to calculate the area and circumference of a circle. Pi represents the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. But don't let the technical jargon fool you; pi knows how to have fun. To prove it, we made a brand new Circles Video! [jwplayer file=http://flocabulary.s3.amazonaws.com/media/circles-media.mp4 image=http://flocabulary.s3.amazonaws.com/images/circles-image.jpg]After you rock out to "All You Need is Pi and the Radius", check out these other great videos we found: Pi Day Domino Spiral - A time-lapse…

...and Flocabulary Songs to Go With Them! If your students are reading historical fiction, help set the stage with Flocabulary's history songs! We've assembled a list of Flocab videos to help you add a historical component to your literature, or a literary element to your social studies. These raps quickly provide historical context for favorite works of historical fiction. World History If you're reading...                 ...you could use:   The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer The Shakespeare Stealer by Gary Blackwood     The Rich Man of Pietermaritzburg by Sibusiso Nyembezi        …

As part of our mission to bring hip-hop into the classroom, we've been searching through our music collections in search of totally classroom-safe rap music. For each song, we'll provide the lyrics and a short lesson plan. The first song is Mos Def's "Habitat." The song is a series of reflections on the idea of home, as well as memories of Mos Def's childhood in Brooklyn. This song contains no swear words, and no references to the n-word. It does mention witnessing drug use, but it does not glorify it in any way. You can download this song on iTunes.…

This is our Free English Lesson Plan for teaching about slant rhyme (also known as half rhyme or near rhyme) and perfect rhyme using both classic poetry and hip-hop music. The lesson uses Emily Dickinson, Nas, and Talib Kweli, and is 100% classroom safe. You can also view our list of slant rhymes for words with no perfect rhymes. Download printable handouts Download a printable PDF of this lesson plan Objectives Students Will: Learn the definition of perfect rhyme and slant rhyme Learn about the history of slant rhyme in Western Poetry and Hip-Hop Music Examine how and why poets…