Music Makes the Stories Come Together: A Case Study on Flocabulary
Madonna once said, “Music makes the people come together.” (Madonna, Ahmadzai, 2000). When it comes to music in the classroom, that statement could not be more true as studies have shown that youth spend more time listening to music than any other activity including video games (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2005, as cited by Oehler & Hanley, 2009). Throughout the past twenty years, research has proven that music is also a powerful tool within pedagogy. By incorporating music, teachers enjoy great success in their pupils and students enjoy learning through something that they genuinely connect with. The problem in most classrooms is that teachers do not have specific training or even a beginner’s understanding of how to incorporate music into their lessons (Love, 1991, as cited by Oehler & Hanley, 2009). This case study will seek to provide reasons for incorporating music as a means of teaching history as well as resources that can be used as a vehicle to present material.
Keywords: music, history, engagement, instructional design, technology, TikTok
Music Makes the Stories Come Together: A Case Study on Flocabulary and Other Integration of Music in the Classroom
When you ask a student what their favorite subject is in school, the typical answers range from “recess” and “lunch” to the occasional “art” or “science”. It is very rare to hear a student say with exuberance, “My absolute favorite subject to learn is HISTORY!” History is historically the most boring of all of the boring subjects. Getting students to be excited and engaged in the history curriculum is becoming increasingly difficult as modern teenagers are generally apathetic when it comes to learning in general. How can we as educators rise above this apathy? The answer, in my opinion, is twofold: we must relate to them on their level, and we must convey the material to them in a way that sparks an interest in learning the subject matter. The way I do this is through the integration of music in my classroom in addition to explaining historical events in innovative ways. Music is quite possibly the oldest technology known to humanity and has the ability to make the mundane magical if used in a meaningful, rigorous manner. This brings me back around to the “how” aspect of teaching with music. We as educators must find meaningful resources for integrating music that are both fresh and relatable and engage our students through these motivational principles that drive volition.
Flocabulary: A Teacher’s Gateway Drug to Hip-Hop
As stated previously, the biggest hurdle for teachers to overcome when attempting to integrate music (especially hip-hop and rap) into their curriculum is understanding how and when to do it. Flocabulary is a subscription-based website where educators can access hundreds of educational rap songs along with various resources for assessing their students understanding of the content. While Flocabulary does not strictly offer social studies videos, history videos are their bread and butter so to speak as this is the content area through which they got their start. While there is a focus on vocabulary, Flocabulary also does a great job of illustrating history through their cartooned videos that accompany the songs. Each video’s lyrics are shown on the screen during the songs giving visual learners and English language learners subtle accommodations as well. The songs often tie in other events that are related which makes for a nice spiraling effect and helps learners connect to other topics. The ability to tie in practice through fun vocabulary-based activities that reward students with innovative games like building beats and songwriting keep the music and practice going even after the video ends. It is easy to integrate so even the most apprehensive of educators can easily use it as a lesson opener. I have used Flocabulary for almost 10 years in many of my classrooms from 2nd grade math to 8th grade US History. One of the ways in which I have used Flocabulary are by playing videos/songs during the engage piece of the 5E learning model. This has worked best with my elementary aged students as we can also take it as an opportunity for a brain break. With my 8th graders, I have used it to support my vocabulary lessons and inspire song writing using the lyric lab feature. To increase motivation, I have a standing offer to either do a live performance of any student written songs or a class favorite – create a “cringe-worthy” TikTok using their history based lyrics.
A Fresh Look at Learning.
Most students, especially teenagers, enter a classroom expecting to hear a tired lecture over subject matter that they could care less about. In history, we have the “Old Dead White Dude” as I like to refer to it. Very few of my students are Caucasian males, so the ability to relate to American historical figures on a visual basis is extremely difficult. Couple that with the fact that many of these “Old Dead White Dudes” were slave owners, and you have a recipe for disaster when it comes to engagement. Bringing relatable music into these lessons is often an unexpected pedagogical tool especially in a history classroom. Through this element of surprise, we are able to activate a learner’s curiosity for the subject matter as the material is being presented in a way that they are not yet accustomed. Whether it is through the use of Flocabulary, a silly Mr. Betts video (MrBettsClass, 2021), or a live performance of a cringy song their teacher made up, the presentation of material in this way brings about the “perceived gap in current knowledge” that is essential to the promotion of motivation (Reiser & Dempsey, 2018).
Lyrical Learning.
Successful motivation requires learners to believe that they can be successful in mastering the learning task (Reiser & Dempsey, 2018). One of the first things I do before exposing my students to music as a learning tool is remind them that learning through music is something they have all done and been successful at. You can ask any American teenager how they learned the alphabet and they will surely tell you that they learned it through “the ABC song”. Would their learning outcome have been the same if the meaningless symbols they were to learn had just been expected through rote memorization? I also like to impress students by singing all 50 states in alphabetical order followed up by singing the Periodic Table of Elements song that I made up in 10th grade so that I could pass my chemistry class. These examples of past successes remind students that mastery comes easy when you add a little rhythm and rhyme.
Satisfying Outcomes.
In order to maintain motivation and continued volitional strategies, students must experience satisfying outcomes. It becomes apparent very quickly that students are successful when music is used as you can often hear students singing the songs under their breath when they are trying to access and apply the information they have learned. These outcomes can also be achieved through the use of programs like Flocabulary that enable students to be rewarded when they are successful during guided practice. With music being something so easily related to, we enable our learners to experience a different type of success and one that often sticks with them for a lifetime.
Music is Motivation.In closing, it is easy to see the impact that music can have on a classroom environment. “Facilitating links between new and familiar concepts is a fundamental process for learning, which lies at the heart of any pedagogical practice” (Oehler & Hanley, 2009). Through the integration of the familiar, in this case music (especially hip-hop), you can create a culturally responsive classroom and a class full of engaged and successful learners.
References
Reiser, Robert A. & Dempsey, John V. (2018). Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology, 4th Edition. https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780134237039/
Madonna, Ahmadzai, M. (2000). Music [Recorded by Madonna]. On Music [CD]. Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA: Maverick, Warner Bros. Records .
Astleitner, H. (2018). Multidimensional Engagement in Learning – An Integrated Instructional Design Approach. Journal of Instructional Research, volume 7, pages 6-32. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1188334.pdf
Oehler, S. & Hanley, J. (2009). Perspectives of Popular Music Pedagogy in Practice: An Introduction. Journal of Popular Music Studies, Volume 21 (Issue 1), pages 2-19.
MrBettsClass. (2021, January 23). Video Library. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCET3_UuMO_ZMnvIv7QEQNAA
Sarah Page is a Houston based educator with experience from preschool through 8th grade in both public and private school settings. She strives to create unique learning experiences in her classroom and does so in a variety of ways including incorporating theatrical elements and music. You can find a catalog of her teaching and learning career on YouTube @mrspage3rdgrade or keep up with her on Instagram @recessinheelstx.
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