Student Work

When our first ever Year in Rap student contest with The New York Times Learning Network began, we didn't have a great sense of how many people would enter. Maybe 20, 40...we would have been thrilled with 100. So we were not only floored by the number of entries--432!--but duly impressed by the quality and creativity of the student raps. Thanks to the students for entering the contest, and thanks to the teachers who made this into a class project. While we were reading through the entries, it was clear that a few events from 2011 were very important to…

In the World War II chapter of Hip-Hop U.S. History, Flocabulary raises the moral dilemma: "Would You Drop the Bomb?" But why just pontificate when you can animate? In Mr. Pitner's U.S. History class in Arizona, students enhanced their understanding of historical issues by creating awesome animations for the song. You can view all the videos here. Thanks for sharing the videos on Twitter! Here are some ill illustrations from 3rd period: ...and this video by 4th period has a humorous mix of animation and live action. The dance moves during the hook are key! Wondering why the students are…