The Flocabulary Blog

January 13, 2009
Flocabulary Team

Obama’s Inauguration as Teaching Moment

A powerful and historic moment will occur next week when Barack Obama takes the oath of office as the first African-American to become the President of the United States. Obama’s inauguration provides a rich teaching opportunity for educating students on a variety of topics from speech-making to civics, from the history of African-Americans in the White House to the plans of Obama’s administration. Lesson plans can get students to parse the vocabulary of the oath of office. While MSNBC provides an overview of the history of African Americans in the White House: From builders and slaves to guests to residents.…

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January 12, 2009
Flocabulary Team

Pre-Test Jitters? Try a Pep Rally!

With the increased importance on high-stakes standardized tests in recent years, lots of teachers find themselves devoting more and more time to test preparation. You can teach students how to take the test, but what do you do for all those students who find test-taking a nerve-racking experience? One unique solution that we've seen in action: Have a pre-test pep rally. Two members of the Flocabulary crew (Blake and Vlad) had a chance to participate in an amazing pep rally this morning to kick off the ELA tests that start tomorrow in New York. At PS 40Q, an elementary school…

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December 12, 2008
Flocabulary Team

Hip-Hop Geography Game

Hip-Hop related trivia as a tool for teaching geography? Absolutely. Daniel D. Zarazua - a teacher at Oakland Unity High School - created this incredible excercise, which quizzes students on their geography skills by connecting Hip-Hop artists, groups, and history to places and cultures from around the globe. With 31 questions, an answer key, and suggested lesson plan, this is the best Hip-Hop Geography exercise I've seen yet. Mr. Zarazua's site has a wealth of advanced ideas for integrating Hip-Hop into your classroom and more. Hip-Hop Geography Exercise

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December 4, 2008
Flocabulary Team

Hip Hop Across the Curriculum

Hip-Hop is not just a genre of music, nor is it simply a pop fad. It is a three decade-old and growing, holistic cultural movement. What began as the popular culmination of the African-American musico-social experience quickly spread to every corner and demographic of the United States and beyond. Today, Hip-Hop exists as a dominant expression of the modern American youth experience. Accordingly, Hip-Hop can be used in a powerful and relevant way in classrooms across the academic curriculum. Not only does Hip-Hop engage students because of its inherent resonance with their lives, it can also serve as a case…

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November 30, 2008
Flocabulary Team

The Poetics of Hip-Hop Lesson Plan

This comprehensive high school lesson plan, from the Kennedy Center's ArtsEdge program, helps student make connections between poetry (Giovanni, Saul Williams) Rap lyrics (Blackalicious) and Shakespeare. The parallels are excellent and this is a great example of how teachers can use rap as a mirror for poetry. For more lesson plans, check out Flocabulary's Teacher Resources. You can also hear this idea in action with Flocabulary's literature raps.

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