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Flocabulary is honored to have been reviewed in the latest issue of the journal CONTACT – Ontario’s premier publication for ESL educators, administrators and consultants!
The rigorous review was written by Jim Papple, the speaking coordinator at Brock University. He has been a devoted “hip-hop head” for many years. His review of Flocabulary: The Hip-Hop Approach to SAT Level Vocabulary Learning, will “help all teachers befuddled by hip-hop to discover not only what it is but also its potential in the ESL classroom.”
Needles to say, we’re honored and thrilled – and excited to see Canadian ESL students use Flocabulary resources.
A big thanks to Clayton Graves, the editor of CONTACT, and Jim Papple. Hopefully, we’ll be making our way up north soon enough!
You can download the latest issue of CONTACT (and the Flocabulary review on pages 40-43) here:
Blake Harrison, co-founder and Creative Director of Flocabulary was in Clinton, NC to kick off implementation in Clinton City AfterSchool programs. Sampson County’s leading newspaper, the Sampson Independent, even wrote about it! See below…
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by Billy Todd, Staff Writer
“Flocabulary? Did someone spell the word incorrectly? No! Flocabulary, city schools educators say, is an exciting strategy to help young people learn. And, Clinton City Schools, in an effort to reach more students and specifically those that may be having difficulties in learning academic information, has adopted the use of the strategy for their after school programs and are investigating the use in the broader educational process…”
To celebrate New Jersey’s 345th Birthday, a special ceremony was held at the State Museum of New Jersey on June 24, 2009. Dignitaries in attendance included Governor Corzine, Secretary of State Nina Mitchell Well, and the Commissioner of Education Lucille E. Davy.
At the ceremony, Belleveville High School students Juan Lisojo and Simeon Knafo received Governor’s Awards for their production of an educational rap video featuring Flocabulary’s song and lyrics from “Ghosts of the Civil War” (Hip-Hop U.S. History).
Belleville High School teachers Mr. Sheridan, Mr. Ross and Mr. Klotzkin worked with the students to create the video. Check it out:
And some pictures from the event, below!
Above: New Jersey Governor Corzine and Belleville High School teacher Mr. Klotzkin celebrate the students’ achievements in creating the educational rap video; Below: Secretary of State Nina Mitchell Wells (center) congratulates Belleville High students Simeon Knafo (on left) and Juan Lisojo (on right)
Winners will each receive $100 worth of Flocabulary products
Has Flocabulary made a difference in your classroom or made an impact on your students? Send us your success story and you could win a $100 Flocabulary shopping spree!
How to enter: Send a few paragraphs describing how Flocabulary has helped you or your students to contest@flocabulary.com. Please include full contact information. Five winners will be chosen in all. Submissions will be accepted through October 31st, 2009.
The Huntington News, the student newspaper of Northeastern University, published an article about Flocabulary focusing on the Week In Rap. The Week In Rap is Flocabulary’s acclaimed free weekly resource: a week’s worth of current events, rapped and put to a music video. Check out the article for more information, as well as quotes and perspectives from Flocab’s own Alex Rappaport and Lassandra Smith.
About two months ago, Flocabulary launched a new project called The Week in Rap. The idea is to get students more engaged with news and current events by creating a weekly music video that summarizes the news. A new edition is posted on the site every Friday.
A few days ago, we were interviewed by a reporter from CBS and here is the piece they put together.
Flocabulary was mentioned in an article from the November issue of NEA Today, a prominent magazine published by the National Education Association. The article describes the many ways in which teachers and artists are bringing hip-hop into the classroom and refers to Flocabulary as a pioneer in the burgeoning movement. From the article:
“…if you want the motivating beat of hip-hop without its baggage, you may ignore commercial artists altogether. In recent years, the buzz around hip-hop educational products has reached a new crescendo. One of the first was Brooklyn-based Flocabulary (“Rocking harder than your grandma’s chair,”) which started off with SAT words and definitions set to catchy raps but has since branched out to U.S. history, science, and math curricula.”
Whether teachers are using existing hip-hop to teach poetry standards or using Flocabulary’s original curricular materials, we are happy that the idea is gaining traction. What do you think?
As way of promoting the release of four new hip-hop learning tools, Flocabulary is giving away a free copy of our Beats CD with every order through October 10th. The CD, which features 20 hip-hop instrumentals, is a great way to get students writing their own Flocab-style raps. Check out the latest from Flocabulary and get your free copy.
The fall means one thing at Flocabulary: new products. Over this past year, Flocabulary artists were hard at work developing the latest in hip-hop learning tools. Check out all of the new products at Flocabulary.
