“Ribosomes make protein.                                                                        A GUEST BLOG

Lysosomes keep it clean.

Endoplasmic Reticulum

transports things to and from. 

Nucleus runs the show.

Keeps control don’t you know!”

The kids wouldn’t stop rapping “Made of Cells”, an educational song I threw together to reinforce vocabulary, even a week after the exam.  It actually got to the point where I had to settle them down each time they walked into my classroom. 

Auditory comprises the “A” in Fleming’s VARK model for different styles of learning (others are Visual, Reading and Kinesthetic) and can explain why we remember things more easily if it encompasses a rhyme or a melody.   Recall when you were first introduced to the alphabet song: “a, b, c, d, eee, eff, geeee…”   It was easy to memorize 26 separate sequence specific letters as a preschooler when it took the form of music.  This technique is also implemented in learning the names of the continents (sung to the tune of “Frère Jacques” a.k.a. “Where is Thumbkin?”):

“There are se-ven, there are se-ven,

con-tin-ents, con-tin-ents:

Europe Asia Af-ri-ca

 North and South Amer-i-ca

Austral-i-a, Antarc-tic-a.

Advertisers have been using the power of jingles for decades in both private

“You deserve a-break-to-daaayy.”

and public sectors:

 “Be…All That You-Can-Be.”

Many scientists credit neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) for how the mind processes information.  The theory states that we can potentially incorporate all of our senses during cognition of a word, idea, or set of specific tasks.  The more senses bombarded through VARK when attaining that piece of information, the easier for it to “stick” in the brain and recall later.

Whether you call it an earworm, a jingle, or a catchy tune, using educational rap in the classroom is extremely effective.  This is especially true in a subject area like science where much of the terminology is derived from Greek and Latin.  So start formulating rhymes in your classroom today so your students can memorize that:

“All plants and animals are made up of cells.

Each is made up of parts called organelles.

So tiny you need a microscope to see.

About 100 trillion cells make up you and me.”   

Guest Post by Joseph Ocando, who was an 8^th grade science teacher in New York City as a member of Teach for America.  He has started a business called Rhyme ‘n Learn.  His raps can be ordered from http://cdbaby.com/cd/rhymenlearn