Featured Teacher: Carlos Nevarez
Name: Carlos Nevarez
School: Lincoln Elementary School - City of Tulare, CA
Subjects: 6th Grade / Multiple Subjects
How are you using educationalrap.com and/or rrr.fm in the classroom?
I play the math songs first thing in the morning as students complete basic math facts, and I use it as a supplement to content instruction after a lesson has been taught. We’re making a music video, and students type the lyrics they hear into Microsoft Word. I also use it s a supplement for Poetry work and for recreational purposes.
What are some recent successes you have encountered using our music?
Recent successes include students gaining mastery of a difficult math/language arts concept, and melodies and content lyrics memorized by students, thus aiding instruction and learning.
My students were really into the music as they repeated the lyrics out loud whenever I played the music in the morning. I also played music for them during independent practice activities as the music created a nice ambiance and supportive learning environment. The music video we made was a big hit. I currently use this video to teach new incoming students math and language concepts. Students were excited to see their friends in a rap music video.
Want to see the music video they created with RRR music? Check it out on YouTube!
Featured Teacher : Amanda Kruppenbacher, Uganda
Name: Amanda Kruppenbacher
School: GSF International School/Good Shephards Fold Orphanage in Jinja, Uganda
Subjects: 2011-2012 teaching 4th and 6th grades
How are you using educationalrap.com and/or rrr.fm in the classroom?
Last school year I worked hard to include different kinesthetic, auditory, and visual learning opportunities for my students in each subject. I found that my students did well when there was a song to go along with what they were learning. During one of my planning sessions I remembered be taught about Rhythm, Rhyme, Results in my college courses so I decided to check it out! I immediately signed up for the membership and planned on using the songs as much as I could. In order to use the songs though I had to download them the night before, as they took forever with the Internet here, and then had to pray my computer would not shut down and delete the page. I decided to email and see if educationalrap.com could help me with this problem - and now that I have all of the songs in my file, I plan to use the songs as much as I can with students this year. School will begin in a few weeks and as I teach every subject - the complete library of songs will be so helpful to my students success!
What are some recent successes you have encountered using our music?
I was not able to receive the complete library of songs until I was home in America this summer - but the songs that I did use in the beginning of last year were so effective in my students learning. Not only did it help them as they hummed the songs to remember a skill while working on their work but I also heard them singing the songs during daily activities outside of school. What was even more of a success is they were able to sing those songs at the end of the year! This program is so effective and I suggest all teachers to see how they can implement the songs/ideas in their classrooms!
I look forward to seeing how the students will respond to these songs and see what they do with the activities I have them accomplish with them! educationalrap.com has provided me with the opportunity to give my students successful class activities while not just being time killers!
Want to contact Amanda or read her blog?
Global Outreach
PO Box 1
Tupelo, MS 33681
alkruppenbacher.posterous.com
amanda.kruppenbacher(skype)
THE KETTERING CONNECTION - Lyle Doe / Featured Teacher!
Fun RRR Fact: Kettering, OH is where it all began. Ben and Robbie (RRR Co-Founders) were students of Lyle Doe in Kettering, OH. Still one of the coolest teachers of all-time, he’s using RRR in his classrooms today! We asked him to tell us about some of his teaching successes with RRR:
Name: Lyle Doe
School: Van Buren Middle School - Kettering, OH
Subjects: Middle School Science and Technology (integration with the science curriculum)
How are you using educationalrap.com and rrr.fm music in the classroom?
In Kettering, Ohio it is particularly fun to use the music of RRR; After all Ben and Robbie were students here! I always start with the fact that both Ben and Robbie were in the very seats that my students are using today, and they never really know to believe me or not. It amazes them to think that some of the talents they have today may be used one day doing something they really love! That is a great hook to get students interested in content, so thanks Ben and Robbie! We have used all the music available, but what we really focused on is the Earth Day songs. These songs, like all of the music from RRR, is like a gift that we can send home with the students. I have had several students say to me that they just cannot keep from singing the song, and that is what RRR is all about! There probably is not much arguing the fact that music is one of the multiple intelligences that we do not fully use and certainly in the content area. We here at Kettering are so glad to have content with a music connection!
What are some recent successes you have encountered using our music?
Like all teaching strategies some methods are more successful that others with different students, with all the more reason to use a variety of methods and delivery. But music, I believe, has almost universal appeal. The only other time I see the students so engaged is when they are allowed to use their iPods and iPads in class for school work. I like to have the music playing quietly when the kids come in at the beginning of class, and they act like they are going to have a treat that day! I then use the song during the class at different times and then end the class with the song uninterrupted. They leave happy every time and they always want to hear the song again later in the week!
Many thanks to Mr. Doe for sharing his story with us, and for continuing to support our music in his classroom!
Educational rap makes you a cooler teacher…
At least we think so! It’s back to school time, and teachers everywhere are finalizing their lesson plans and teaching approaches for the upcoming school year. We’re in planning mode as well, and wanted to stop by to remind you about all the great ways you can use our music to start the new academic year:
RRR.FM: 24/7 streaming audio that you and your students can access from anywhere, any time. Get access to our full library, or just the subjects you want! We’re also offering a special right now: sign up for an annual subscription, and get TWO MONTHS FREE!
DOWNLOADS: check out our updated full library here! Remember, most of our downloads come with great resources: games, puzzles, worksheets, quizzes and more.
FEATURED TEACHER SEGMENT: Starting in September, we’ve got some great Featured Teacher’s that will be highlighting, and they’ll share with you the different ways they’ve used Rhythm, Rhyme, Results music in the classroom, at conferences, and more. Have a story you’d like to share with us? We’d love to feature you! Please contact taunia@educationalrap.com about becoming a “Featured Teacher.”
UPCOMING EDUCATIONAL HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS: Great resource for upcoming educational and academic holidays for 2011-2012! Thanks to Education World for the great list! CLICK HERE FOR CALENDAR
Questions? Feel free to contact us at help@educationalrap.com or taunia@educationalrap.com.
Featured Teacher: Meg Marsh
Name: Meg Marsh
School : L.C. Swain Middle School in Greenacre, Florida
Subject(s) you teach: Full Sheltered ESOL Reading/Language Arts
Grade Level(s): 7th and 8th Grade
How Meg uses educational rap in and out of the classroom:
Our school, L.C. Swain Middle School, is a six year old Title One school in Greenacres, Florida, about 30 minutes (and a whole world away) north of Boca Raton. It is about 55% Hispanic, 30% African-American /Haitian, and 15% everything else.
We are an “A” rated school because we have continually improved with each year of our existence, meeting the necessary requirements to advance, but 75% of our population is on free or reduced lunch and many live in trailers or in multi family apartments. I teach fully sheltered ESOL students (ESL up north), as there is a large population of English language learners in southern Florida. I love my kids!
Recent successes:
My students learn so well with music; and they told me that by remembering the lyrics to “Figurative Language” helped them with the many new poetry questions on the test this year - really!!
Anything that you’d love to have people know:
My students are going to make a video of their performance, which they are presenting to parents for our ELL Multicultural Party in May.
You have a great product and I look forward to using it more , in new and different ways!
From RRR: We’re so glad to hear of your successes with RRR in your fully-sheltered ESOL classrooms. We’re looking forward to seeing the video, and wish you and your students the best for their performance at the ELL Multicultural Party in May!
THIS WEEK IN REVIEW…
This week was a busy one for us here at Rhythm, Rhyme, Results! We’ve got a lot of really great new things happening, so I thought I’d recap here for anyone who may have missed any of it:
CALL FOR TEACHERS: Our first-ever “Featured Teacher” Wednesday segment starte out with Veronica Asbury, an amazing Reading an Language Arts teacher, and conference presenter. If you miss the feature on Veronica, you can read that HERE.
Are you a teacher that’s been using our music in your classroom? If you’d like to be featured in our new Wednesday segment, please take a few moments to fill out an submit the form HERE.
_____________________________________________________________________
FREE MUSIC DOWNLOAD: Getting ready for Earth Day next month? We’re
offering a FREE download of our “Water Cycle” song. In addition, we’re also offering a special 30% discount off the entire Earth Day Collection. This Earth Day Collection contains five science songs and 86 pages of custom-made worksheets, puzzles, an more specifically tailore to help you teach students in a creative and engaging way.
Creating music videos with your students is a great way to celebrate Earth Day, and we LOVE to feature teach and student videos, so please email taunia@educationalrap.com if you would like us to feature yours!
_____________________________________________________________________
NEW MUSIC RELEASES: We’ve released three great new songs that we’d love for you to check out:
ORDER OF OPERATIONS: Available in two versions, this song for teaching order of operations in math introduces basic information about PEMDAS. The lyrics contain detailed information about order of operations problems and how to apply its principles in problem solving.
In the Standard Version, simple PEMDAS problems and equations using numbers and symbols are used to illustrate important mathematics concepts. In the Advanced Version, exponents are introduced as well as algebraic equations. The accompanying classroom materials for each version include puzzles, order of operations printable worksheets, activities, and online resources that enhance the song and offer additional opportunities for learning.
The Standard Version of the song is suitable for upper elementary students learning steps and strategies for the Order of Operations (grade 5, grade 6) while the Advanced Version is more appropriate for middle school students and high school students learning algebra (grade 7, grade 8, grade 9, and grade 10).
We also release Mean, Median, Mode. This song for teaching mean, median, and mode introduces basic information about the best use of mean, median, and mode. Lyrics contain information about each term, processes used to find results, and simple examples to illustrate. This song is a great introduction to understanding how to define mean, median, and mode and their applications. The accompanying classroom materials include puzzles, mean, median, mode printable worksheets, games, and online resources that enhance the song and offer additional opportunities for learning.
_____________________________________________________________________
We’ve also just released one of my personal favorites: Periodic Table. I’ve had a fascination of the Periodic Table since I was a kid, and as a step-mother, I’m having a lot of fun playing this one for my kids. (And yes, even though they love the music, they still think I’m a “geek” because of how much I love the Periodic Table. I even bought a Periodic Table shower curtain. Geek-confirmed!)
Periodic Table by educationalrap
This song for teaching the periodic table of elements offers basic information about the first eighteen elements with names. Students will learn names, atomic symbols, and numbers as well as general information about elements and how they are organized. For students wondering how to memorize the periodic table of elements, this song is the perfect start. The accompanying detailed, printable periodic table worksheets and games enhance the learning experience.
_____________________________________________________________________
Have any questions, ideas, or comments? Feel free to drop me a line at taunia@educationalrap.com. We love hearing feedback from teachers, students, administrators and fans!
Cheers,
Taunia | www.educationalrap.com | www.rrr.fm
RRR wants YOU!
Last week, we announced our new “Featured Teacher” series here at Rhythm, Rhyme, Results. We have so many creative educators from all around the world using our music, and if you are one of them we’d love to feature you!
We’ll be running our “Featured Teacher” series on Wednesdays here on the blog and also on our Facebook Page. We’d love to hear how you are using our music and what type of successes you’ve had.
If you’re interested in being featured in our series, please take a few moments to submit your information HERE. Any questions? Contact Taunia at taunia@educationalrap.com for more information.
-
posted 06 April, 2011
by taunia - Permalink / Short URL
- Tweet
