Online Music Videos Help Keep Students Engaged in the Classroom
Flocabulary is a website that can be found at www.flocabulary.com and the free videos can be accessed from any classroom or home. Flocabulary music videos are aligned with the Common Core State Standards and can be incorporated in multiple subjects such as reading, math, language arts, science, social studies, and life skills/character traits. There is a large variety of videos to chose from. They can vary in length and be replayed multiple times throughout the unit to ensure understanding. The videos are engaging for students grades K-12 and they are continuously adding new skilled videos.
Flocabulary can be introduced with any skill from any subject matter that is available. Flocabulary is a learning tool to help our kinesthetic, visual, and auditory learners. It assists with keeping our students engaged and on task. Videos can be played to activate unknown or known prior knowledge of the skill and act as an introduction to the lesson.
Challenges or Obstacles:
- For subject-specific classes, finding the time to fit Flocabulary into the lesson may be difficult. While most videos are short, in some cases, time is limited.
- Flocabulary would be best used on a projector or SmartBoard. Not all classrooms have this technology available so it could be difficult for the students to view the videos. However, they can still listen to the song from the laptop, computer, or smartphone.
- It is imperative to set classroom expectations prior to showing the videos so the students can enjoy them, but also comprehend the material that is being introduced.
- Not all videos are free.
Benefits and Successes:
- Flocabulary is an excellent kinesthetic attention grabber when introducing the topic.
- Flocabulary helps students from different cultures and learning styles to have a better understanding of the specific skill being taught.
- Flocabulary is another teaching tool for those students who have trouble learning through didactic/coaching instruction.
Submitted by: Melissa Mendiola, Celentria Player, and Kristina Yoder, East Chicago Urban Enterprise Academy