Flocabulary | 18 Years in Rap for Class of 2012

Flocabulary is a rapper turned educational rapper and on his site he has some really great content that "used" to be free...but not anymore.  However, each year for the last couple of years, he has put out a free rap recounting the last 18 years for those students graduating in June.  The video and lyrics review the headlines for the last 18 years.  If you would like to see the lyrics for the song you can check out Flocabulary's page.  In addition, you can check out a bunch of free resources that go along with the song including activities and quiz questions.




Now What?

Unfortunately most of the resources found on Flocabulary are not free.  This one is and can be a great way for students to take a look at the past 18 years and how our world has changed/been affected.  Another great resource for educational raps is Rhyme N Learn which has a lot of great songs for math and science.

Royalty Free Music & Sound Effects

In the past when I had students working on projects, we always had a difficult time getting sounds effects and music on the web.  Students wanted to bring in their iPod or record a song from YouTube to use but we always had to keep responsible use in mind.  The website Partners in Rhyme always seemed to find its way into our classroom offering sound effects and music for free use as well as royalty free use.  What's the difference?  Royalty free means that you purchase the music and can use it an unlimited amount of times.  Free means free of charge completely.  Partners in Rhyme offers royalty free music for purchase but also a large amount of free sound effects and music as well.  Another website that I have used in the past for free music for projects has been Free Play Music.  This site has a tremendous amount of music which is searchable by style and feel.  I like to use this site for digital storytelling because students can find music that matches the mood of their story.

Now What?

Get these sites up onto your class webpage and talk with students about responsible use and the term royalty free.  It is important for students to understand what is available for them on the web and how they can use it.