Hip Hop Rock for Kids CD
Teacher Note: Students follow the directions below as they work to develop hip hop rock songs for younger children. The activity is a follow-up of the Chicago section of the Penny's Search game.
Directions for Students
Make sure you've completed the section on Chicago featuring independent recording artist Harmony in Penny's Search.
About Hip Hop
When you think about it, hip hop could be called a form of rhyming poetry. It rhymes in parts, and as you listen to it, you'll detect a definite beat or rhythm. Sometimes words rhyme at the ends of lines, but you may find some rhyming or almost rhyming words in single lines. Hip hop, like many other forms of poems and songs, usually contains lots of repetition. And the songs feature some of the literary terms you've most likely covered in English class. Think alliteration, for example, where words begin with the same sound, like a "clumsy cool cucumber" or "money-mad millionaire". There are lots of other literary terms we could mention, but you get the idea.
What makes hip hop different is that it's usually spoken in a special way, and it often includes dancing.
Your Assignment
Harmony has requested your help with the song for a new album, Hip Hop Rock for Kids that she's been hired to create. The topics she needs to cover in hip hop songs are:
- Exercise
- Multiplication
- Grammar
- Manners
- Sports
- Spelling
- American History
- World Geography
- Music
- Art
- Technology
Your job (or your job with your partner or group) is to pick one of the topics, think about it, and write the lyrics for a crazy hip hop song that kids will enjoy and want to sing over and over. Keep in mind as you write that you are writing for children, so your lyrics must be appropriate for kids aged 6-8.
Don't worry if your rhymes don't rhyme exactly or if your rhythm is a bit off. The best artists often break with traditional ways of doing things, so their hip hop creations can be unique. They shouldn’t sound like some famous hip hop artist. They need to sound like themselves. That's what Harmony wants.
Here are a couple of examples of a few lines Harmony wrote, but Harmony knows you can do better. You can see why she needs help.
Soccer ball flying through the air
Headed toward the goal.
Get it!
I leaped up high, knocked it down.
I was on a roll.
Yeah!
But the ball came back travelin' fast,
And whammed me on my knee.
Get it!
Another save, another win
Attributed to me.
Yeah!
Or
If six times seven is forty-two,
Yellow and green will make you blue.
Yuck.
Three times nine, do you know it?
Or will I have to try to slow it.
Never.
Twenty-seven's got to be right
Do you know your math tonight?
Of course, I'm super smart.
Five times four is twenty, isn't it?
Are you sure that you are listenin'?
You are simply silly.
I know all my facts, I do.
Two times eleven is twenty-two.
See?
Once you're finished with the lyrics for your song, create a dance to go with it. Present your song and dance to the group. Then use all the songs written by the students in your class, to create your own Hip hop Rock for Kids CD.
Have fun.
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