Our NewsDepth A+ goes to a group of students at East Academy in Cleveland, who welcomed all Ohio students back to class with a rap video. They are the 6th, 7th, and 8th graders in Mrs. Tajuana Taylor’s english classes!
The video features Mrs. Taylor rapping with the students, masked up, dancing with her.
Mrs. Taylor said the whole idea started because she wanted a creative way to engage her english language arts class and to get them to read and write more.
She said her students all love music. So one day she asked them to bring in the lyrics to their favorite song...that got them excited.
Now they’ve got freestyle Fridays, when the students write about anything they want in any form they want.
For one assignment Mrs. Taylor asked her kids to write about their experiences during 2020. And they began to talk about things like Covid-19 and Kobe Bryant.
Then, Mrs. Taylor wrote a rap that incorporated all of the students’ experiences and thoughts.
Everyone got involved!
She’d share a couple of lines she wrote and her students helped edit them so they were more relatable to kids. The students found the instrumental beat on YouTube and once it came to making the video, all the students helped, with dance moves - and choreography.
So shout out to all the kids in Mrs. Taylor's class. We’re excited to award you this week’s NewsDepth A+ for being creative, working together, and for making a fun video that represents East Academy! And this A+ goes to Mrs. Taylor for dropping those fine lines!
Submit your ideas for our NewsDepth A+ segment to newsdepth@ideastream.org for consideration.
