Mos Def Lesson Plan

Mos Def Lesson Plan

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.…

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Slant Rhyme Lesson Plan

Slant Rhyme Lesson Plan

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…

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Will You Be Our Valentine?

Will You Be Our Valentine?

It's February, and you know what that means. Love is in the air -- and we are simply twitterpated! We're smitten with all our favorite songs and videos about l'amour. [jwplayer file=http://flocabulary.s3.amazonaws.com/media/10-the-date-media.mp4 image=http://flocabulary.s3.amazonaws.com/images/10-the-date-image.jpg]  The Date, one of our most popular vocabulary songs. But for students who are down and out due to nobody to go out with, here's an important reminder: Love isn't just about romance. We have love for our friends, our families and even our pets! That's why we've curated a special selection of Flocab love songs for every occasion. So no matter what you're brushing up on…

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Announcing 2012’s Year In Rap Contest Winners!

Announcing 2012’s Year in Rap Contest Winners!

Flocabulary has once again teamed up with The New York Times for our annual Year in Rap student contest. We are so thrilled to announce the winning raps! We were floored in the best way when we learned that 1,104 students entered this year's contest! And after reading through every single one (seriously!), we were consistently impressed by students' thoughtful and creative reflections on some very serious events from 2012. Our top picks mixed insightful news summaries with pithy language and excellent rhymes. You can view the winners on The New York Times Learning Network, and we've also listed them below. Group…

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13 New Flocabulary Videos!

13 New Flocabulary Videos!

...and even more coming all the time! [jwplayer file=http://flocabulary.s3.amazonaws.com/media/7-how-else-to-be-media.mp4 image=http://flocabulary.s3.amazonaws.com/images/7-how-else-to-be-image.jpg]  One of our new videos, How Else to Be.  We're starting 2013 right with a batch of new videos for you! We have a bunch of Word Up videos this month, plus a little math. We now have videos for every third grade vocabulary song, and we're working to make that happen for every grade level. As always, there are even more videos on the way! If you'd like to watch all of our videos, make sure to sign up for a free two-week trial to Flocabulary. New Videos Vocabulary 2nd Grade…

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