I know it’s been done but I couldn’t resist. I really need gold $ signs instead of pluses and I’m not thrilled overall but it’s better than nothing. Maybe there will be a version 2.0- depends on how much life intervenes.
What would make this a project, something you could use to teach as opposed to just another poster, would be to get your kids making things like these based on the concepts your covering but they choose what pop culture elements to use. They’re then thinking more deeply about the concept in order to figure out the link and they’d be doing it far more frequently (and away from school). It’s like installing a secret little education ninja in their head.
I’m working on a poster that ties together Nietzsche’s ideas regarding “eternal return” and TuPac’s “my only fear of death is reincarnation” quote. But I have to re-read Nietzsche in order to make sure I’ve got it right.
I’ve been keeping an eye on this conversation, because it’s close to my heart. I think we’re reaching an age where many of us who grew up with hip-hop are finally reaching the classroom. Here’s a list of songs that I’ve used, or helped other teachers use both online and in traditional classroom settings:
Slick Rick – A Children’s Story (general story telling, English class)
Dead Prez – Animal in Man (retelling of Animal Farm – has an f-word that needs editing, English and Government class)
Jay Z – 99 Problems (just the part where he gets pulled over for a Civil Liberties class, http://tinyurl.com/yvgphv)
Public Enemy – 911 is a Joke (a current events class, related to a passing news story)
Anybody else out there doing this? Got any other suggestions?
Dorothy Posted on i like the names drohtoy, kendall, simone, taylor, anna caroline, elizabelle, miranda and la laine, makensie and shawnmy top 5 are: Dorothy, simone, la laine, kendall and makenzie
Good call on Slick Rick. I’ve still got a Public Enemy Welcome to the Terrordome poster.
I used Kanye West’s All Falls Down for English (allusions, alliteration, great vocabulary etc) and for history/social awareness stuff. It needs some editing as well but the radio version’s pretty safe.
I did a poetry project using Skee Lo’s “I Wish.” The 6th graders found it hilarious and few had ever heard it. I had it sandwiched with another more traditional poem with the same theme. If I had older kids I might be able to get away with pulling in Nas’s “If I Ruled the World” to get a different view but that’s getting pretty risky. It’d be interesting to compare the “American Dream.”
I can’t recall which songs but I helped my wife find some DMX songs to use when she was teaching HS English (that was before I started teaching so it was not as relevant to me). I’ll see if she recalls.
Not hip hop but I used to have the song “War” cued up on certain review days in history class. I’d hit that intro line every so often and then they’d have to tell me what that war was good for.
Tom
There’s a great set of hip hop graphs (some more appropriate than others) here:
http://www.jamphat.com/rap/
Not matter how inappropriate, dont forget about Luda and Google Earth for geography class.
http://strangemaps.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/finalareacodesbig.gif?w=700
How can I purchase these posters???/
Jamie – Sorry, I’m not selling them. I just pieced them together. If you upload the image to Snapfish or something similar you can get a print for cheap ($10 or so).