Updated June 2014
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Flocabulary: The Week in Rap

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These timely rhymes help jazz up your current-events lessons

Subjects & skills
Subjects
  • English Language Arts
  • Social Studies
Skills
  • Communication & Collaboration
  • Critical Thinking
Grades This grade range is a recommendation by Common Sense Education and not the developer/publisher.
5–12
Common Sense says
Not yet reviewed
Teachers say (2 Reviews)
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Price:  Free to Try, Paid Free 14-day trial, $96 per year for individual teacher or $2,000 per year for full school (other quotes available).
Platforms:  Website

Take a look inside

3 images
After clicking "Songs & Videos," select "The Week in Rap."
Lessons are updated weekly.
All videos have printable lyrics, comprehension exercises, and extension activities.

How Can I Teach with This Tool?

Flocabulary's Week in Rap offering combines ELA skills with social studies content with new lessons posted at the end of each week. Like the site's ELA and social studies units, the Week in Rap lessons feature a video, printable lyrics, a fill-in-the-blank comprehension exercise, challenge questions, and extension activities.

Lessons encourage a "grab and go" approach, which is an obvious fit for students in grades 5-7, but the videos are so engaging that all students -- especially those in grade 8 and above -- will crave even more authentic extensions. The songs could be a great setup for a debate and discussion activity -- you could assign groups a topic from the video that they agree with, or purposely assign an opposing point of view. You could also have students conduct small-group research, in which groups locate related events from history and present to the class. For the ultimate comprehension check, have students write and present their own raps to review the week. Fear not! The site offers tips and strategies for writing academic rhymes and freestyle rapping.

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Standards:

Key Standards Supported

Reading Informational Text

  • RI.5.4

    Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 5 topic or subject area.

  • RI.5.5

    Compare and contrast the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in two or more texts.

  • RI.5.1

    Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

  • RI.5.2

    Determine two or more main ideas of a text and explain how they are supported by key details; summarize the text.

  • RI.5.3

    Explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text based on specific information in the text.

  • RI.5.10

    By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grades 4–5 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

  • RI.6.4

    Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings.

  • RI.6.5

    Analyze how a particular sentence, paragraph, chapter, or section fits into the overall structure of a text and contributes to the development of the ideas.

  • RI.6.1

    Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

  • RI.6.2

    Determine a central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.

  • RI.6.3

    Analyze in detail how a key individual, event, or idea is introduced, illustrated, and elaborated in a text (e.g., through examples or anecdotes).

  • RI.6.10

    By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 6–8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

  • RI.8.4

    Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.

  • RI.8.5

    Analyze in detail the structure of a specific paragraph in a text, including the role of particular sentences in developing and refining a key concept.

  • RI.8.6

    Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how the author acknowledges and responds to conflicting evidence or viewpoints.

  • RI.8.1

    Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

  • RI.8.2

    Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to supporting ideas; provide an objective summary of the text.

  • RI.8.3

    Analyze how a text makes connections among and distinctions between individuals, ideas, or events (e.g., through comparisons, analogies, or categories).

  • RI.8.10

    By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction at the high end of the grades 6–8 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

  • RI.9-10.4

    Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language of a court opinion differs from that of a newspaper).

  • RI.9-10.5

    Analyze in detail how an author’s ideas or claims are developed and refined by particular sentences, paragraphs, or larger portions of a text (e.g., a section or chapter).

  • RI.9-10.6

    Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how an author uses rhetoric to advance that point of view or purpose.

  • RI.9-10.1

    Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

  • RI.9-10.2

    Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.

  • RI.9-10.3

    Analyze how the author unfolds an analysis or series of ideas or events, including the order in which the points are made, how they are introduced and developed, and the connections that are drawn between them.

  • RI.9-10.10

    By the end of grade 9, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 9–10 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

  • RI.11-12.4

    Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze how an author uses and refines the meaning of a key term or terms over the course of a text (e.g., how Madison defines faction in Federalist No. 10).

  • RI.11-12.5

    Analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the structure an author uses in his or her exposition or argument, including whether the structure makes points clear, convincing, and engaging.

  • RI.11-12.6

    Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is particularly effective, analyzing how style and content contribute to the power, persuasiveness or beauty of the text.

  • RI.11-12.1

    Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.

  • RI.11-12.2

    Determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to provide a complex analysis; provide an objective summary of the text.

  • RI.11-12.3

    Analyze a complex set of ideas or sequence of events and explain how specific individuals, ideas, or events interact and develop over the course of the text.

  • RI.11-12.10

    By the end of grade 11, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 11–CCR text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

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Teacher Reviews

(See all 2 reviews) (2 reviews) Write a review
Featured review by
Amy K. , Classroom teacher
Classroom teacher
Cornell Senior High School
Coraopolis, United States
Great way to get a weekly dose of current events. The kids love it!
I love this product. Each week Flocabulary puts out a 2 minute rap that includes 6-8 major current events happenings from the week. In addition to 1-2 pieces of world and national news, Flocab generally includes a sports or entertainment event, a science or tech event, and a lot of times something positive that teens are doing (science fairs, the boy who got admitted to all 8 Ivy League schools, etc.) ...
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