Assorted Flocabulary Resources:

Flocabulary's Frequently Asked Questions
Questions about our programs and how to use them.

Mnemonic Devices
An explanation of why rhymes are so easy to remember, plus examples of common mnemonics.

Why Do We Need Education?
The top ten reasons that your students should be trying hard in school. Science shows that people with more education live longer, make more money and are more attractive. And that's just for starters.

Motivating Students - Connecting with their Interests
One of the best ways of ensuring that your students stay motivated is to connect what they're learning in class with their interests outside of the classroom. Here are some ideas for incorporating student interests into your class.

Free SAT Vocabulary Music Download
Download and share "Pop, Crackle & Snap," a free song that defines 26 SAT-level vocabulary words. We produced this song in our MTV News segment.

SAT Vocab Music Video
You can watch "Flo+Cab," a simple video that corresponds to a song on our SAT Book and CD.

Free Online Crossword Puzzle Maker
Flocabulary's resource guide to the best online crossword puzzle generators.

Crossword Puzzle Help
A guide to the best online crossword puzzle help, including sites where you type in the clue.

Articles on Hip-Hop in the Classroom:

Top Ten Shakespeare/Hip-Hop Analogies
This playful list links famous Shakespearean characters with their hip-hop contemporaries. For example: “Hamlet – Eminem. Done in by the women around them, they respond in kind with pure misogyny.”

Hip-Hop High (Edutopia)
A great article about high-school teachers connecting to students using hip-hop and poetry. The article quotes from teacher and author Alan Sitomer who notes, “I had to fight the students to embrace classic poetry and had to fight the administration to embrace contemporary poetry. It was uphill on both fronts."

Educators Use Rap Music as Teaching Tool
An NPR broadcast on teachers in Los Angeles who use rap music to engage their students.

Promoting Academic Literacy with Urban Youth through Engaging Hip-Hop Culture
A paper that discusses using hip-hop texts in classrooms to teach critical reading. Written by Ernest Morrell and Jeffrey M. R. Duncan-Andrade, it includes a general introduction about the “Hip-Hop Generation,” an interesting resource.

Hip-Hop Poetry and the Classics
Alan Sitomer’s book teaches poetic techniques using Blake, Shelley and other classic poets linked with modern rappers like Nas and Eminem.

Professor Hip-Hop
An article about University of Illinois professor William Patterson who uses hip-hop in his classes. He even named a course “C.R.E.A.M. (Cash Rules Everything Around Me)”, a Wu-Tang Clan song.

Philadelphia’s ‘Hip-Hop 101 Curriculum Guide’
This article isn’t about using hip-hop to teach traditional academic subjects, but about teachers in Philadelphia teaching hip-hop itself. Having students explore topics that they’re passionate about is one of the best ways to get them to learn study methods, discussion methods and how to do research.

Consulting Cool
An article about Professor Emmett Price of Boston's Northeastern University. He teaches fellow faculty members about hip-hop culture so that they understand why some students wear their hats backwards.

Bringing ‘Def Poetry’ to Schools
An NPR interview with Russell Simons and his quest to get hip-hop poetry into American schools.

Vibe Magazine: Hip-Hop Education 101
This article gives overview of the hip-hop educational movement. Although Flocabulary isn't mentioned, the article quotes our good friends David Kirkland of New York University and 9th Wonder.

Young B-Boys and B-Girls School the Rules
An article on hip-hop education in the Bay Area (and beyond), which notes that “when you consider hip-hop's notorious history of advocating violence, denigrating women, and glorifying gangsta-ism, it's no surprise that many educators have only recently discovered there's more to it than AK-47s and copious bags of weed.” Amen.

Brand Newz Story: "He's the Principal"
This video introduces part-time emcee Spectac (who's been featured on Flocabulary projects). He has spent many years as an educator and school principal in addition to rocking the mic.