Five Pedagogical Reasons To Add Writing Rap To Your Lesson

Five Pedagogical Reasons to Add Writing Rap to Your Lesson

Do you wish you could make writing more exciting? (Yes, we meant that to rhyme). We all know that writing is not only critically important for academic development and achievement, but is a key tool through which we can deepen our learning, communicate with others, express ourselves and be creative. But students may not always see writing as a wellspring of opportunity: a study from 2006 found that only 8% of students said they enjoy writing (HSSE, 2006).

Crafting writing exercises and assignments that resonate with students, boost engagement and support the curriculum is a challenge, then—but a solvable one. At Flocabulary, a favorite student-centered writing exercise to incorporate in lessons is, naturally, rhyme-writing! It’s as engaging as it is educational, and you don’t need to be a professional rapper to do it—check out our Writing Academic Rhymes resources here. Here are five ways that bringing rhyme-writing into your lesson has pedagogical benefit:

5 Pedagogical Reasons

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Students Pen Poems And Host Thoughtful Thanksgivings For Shout-Outs!

Students Pen Poems and Host Thoughtful Thanksgivings for Shout-Outs!

Each week, we recognize stellar student work submitted to the The Week in Rap and The Week in Rap Junior Shout-Out Contests. For their Week in Rap Shout-Out, students in Mrs. Karen Chin’s 7th Grade Social Studies class at Jane Addams Jr. High in Schaumburg, IL flexed their poetic muscles to produce a plethora of poems dedicated to inanimate objects. Meanwhile, in Houma, Louisiana, Mrs. Parfait’s 4th grade Physical Education class at Acadian Elementary School claimed Week in Rap Jr. Shout-Out fame with a thoughtful entry on their Thanksgiving guests of choice. Read on to explore these excellent entries!

Jane Addams Jr. High

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Making Hip-Hop Music Videos To Bring History To Life In The Library: A Spotlight On Mt. Bethel Elementary

Making Hip-Hop Music Videos to Bring History to Life in the Library: A Spotlight on Mt. Bethel Elementary

Last school year, Teacher-Librarian Heather Kindschy at Mt. Bethel Elementary in Marietta, GA wanted to expand on a songwriting history research project she’d led with students in the past. With a focus on project-based learning, the assignment would challenge students to work in groups to explore the stories of important historical figures from Reconstruction through the Great Depression using the Big6 Research Model. Students would then create their own music videos about these characters from history. And the project needed to be something students would get excited about. So using Flocabulary as inspiration, Heather created a hip-hop music video challenge, a project that had students eager to get to work – even during indoor recess and time before school! Here’s how she did it.  

Mt. Bethel Post Image

GarageBand + iPad!!??? by Joseph Thornton, available under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

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North Lewis Elementary School Students Host A Circus For A Week In Rap Junior Shout-Out!

North Lewis Elementary School Students Host a Circus for a Week in Rap Junior Shout-Out!

Every week, we ask The Week in Rap Junior fans a question through our Shout-Out Contest, and recognize the school that responds with creativity, imagination, and educational relevance, too. Students in Kristen Strother’s class at North Lewis Elementary School in New Iberia, LA did some delightful storytelling about their very own circus to win the latest Shout-Out. Delve in to discover their masterful use of descriptive language.

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