Breakout Session: Vocabulary with a Hip-Hop Flava!

Vocabulary With A Hip-Hop Flava!

Description:This workshop introduced an alternative and fun way to teach 500 SAT vocabulary words to teens by using "Rap" songs. It is based on the program "Flocabulary" which utilizes 12 unique tracks appropriate for teens. It is especially useful for learning disabled students as they are shown how to use different modalities and a variety of activities to reinforce words.
Presenter(s): Members of the Martin de Porres staff especially Betty Williams and Karel Lancaster
Review Provided By: Jolleen WagnerThis "dictionary cover" is the cover of the hand-out made available by the presenters of this awesome teaching method!

Here is the story of how Flocabulary came into existence thanks to the creative efforts of founders Alex Rappaport and Blake Harrison.
A news story printed about the Flocabulary program. An article like this is what caught MDP teacher Betty Williams attention as she was reading a NYC newspaper and what began the presence of Flocabulary at MDP.
A sample from the hand-out provided by Betty and Karel. Notice that the lyrics are paralleled by the vocab. words and that definitions are provided in and next to the lyrics. These pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them.




When we entered our Huether classroom, there were colorful packets, home-made pins touting the Flocabulary method, and our teachers sported shirts proclaiming "Shakespeare is Hip-Hop!" Betty and Karel made it obvious from the get go that we were all about to experience an engaging and exciting atmosphere and they did not disappoint. They began with Betty relating her story of stumbling upon a news article, buying a solo copy of the book Flocabulary, and piquing the interest of her then graduating class. Before long, Betty's 8th grade students were finding success with the method and she was recommending it to her sister, Karel, who was teaching in the MDP high school.

As the two brought the method into their classrooms, they were visited by co-founders Blake and Alex. The two shared that when Blake and Alex walked into their classrooms, the students audibly gasped. Students could not believe the creators were white! MDP has been highlighted on local news for their use of Flocabulary and Alex and Blake have also been highlighted on national programs like "Good Morning America," "MTV News," and NPR.

Karel and Betty proceeded to teach us as though we were their students. Going through their process of allowing us to listen to the rap "Transformation" and then to sing along. When we finished, they set-up the electronic Jeopardy game (not formally part of the Flocabulary program) and broke up into teams quizzing us for answers in areas such as:

- Fill in the next line of the rap
- Opposite words
- Synonyms
- Which is spelled incorrectly
- Words beginning with C
- and many, many, more.

The winning team received the Flocabulary t-shirt and some of the books/audio cds were raffled off.

Every participant left impressed with the presenters, the program, and wanting more! It will be exciting to see how many Lasallian schools end up incorporating this method that speaks to students and staff and has proven success!










Lyrics to song, Transformation. Bold words are the vocabulary.

The transformation of bookworms
into hip-hop icons,
a dictionary and a microphone,
a dictionary and a mic.

Now this here's a story for
the fellows and the ladies,
sporting pocket protectors and
socket inspectors and marking their vectors,
glasses thick,
they're myopic, short-sighted,
they can't see the crumbs on their lips.
They don't say the word think,
they say "ratiocinate."
They don't render repeat,
they say recapitulate.
When they speak they're
wordy and loquacious,
verbose and gregarious,
so many words it's hilarious.
They study elocution,
the art of public speaking,
but they talk in circumlocutions,
indirect language.
They're recalcitrant,
defiant, and unapologetic.
Write an essay on
Shakespeare for extra credit.
So cogent and smart
that it changes the field,
it's seminal and original.
Their meritorious work always deserve merit,
they revise and redact their papers, they edit.
They placate their parents,
soothe them out,
by always getting good grades
and never leaving the house.
To them homework is never tedious,
dull and boring, they're never snoring or
yawning
they're working evening and morning.
They have tomes, large books
in their homes, which they read and peruse
when
they're talking to you on the phone.
They know about Pokemon,
Everquest, insects, entomology,
Dungeons and Dragons, and chess.

The transformation of bookworms
into hip-hop icons,
a dictionary and a microphone,
a dictionary and a mic.

Now if you've ever felt left out and
ostracized, like a pariah,
try Flocabulary Cereal with fiber.
We put the k in Outkast,
persevere, persist, and outlast,
we're part of this complete breakfast.
Your latent skills, hidden skills,
will burgeon and blossom,
after one bite, it'll be awesome.
If you're following the serving suggestions
diligently, carefully,
you'll be more hip-hop than Run D.M.C.
You'll be the paragon of animals,
the model of perfection,
blowing up the session like a
Mormon on a mission.
You're house will be more roomy and
commodious,
you'll be more clairvoyant than
Nostradamus.
Gaze into your crystal ball, more
cosmopolitan than Carrie Bradshaw,
with her humongous, vast, voluminous,
exorbiants, extensive,
extravagant, collection of shoes, sophisticated
shoes.
You'll be larger than a colossus,
Tony Danza will ask you who the boss is.
Summarize in a speech and give a synopsis.
Your speech will have that cadence,
that rhythm, progression of sound,
that makes people cavort, dance, and get
down.
You used to have a boisterous loud laugh,
people used to
think of you as crazy and daft.
Now you're so deft and skilled you got mass
appeal,
people crowd around you like Jesus eating his
last meal.

The transformation of bookworms
into hip-hop icons,
a dictionary and a microphone,
a dictionary and a mic.