LESSON PLAN: Rap Talk
Objective
Students will freestyle rap focusing only on the rhythm of their speech. They will speak to a beat.
Resources
Hip-Hop backing track, or a drum track
Vocabulary and Terms
Procedures
- Have drum track playing as students enter the room.
- Rap to your students something like, “For the next ten minutes everything we say must be rapped, but do not worry, it doesn’t have to rhyme, the only thing to think about is the rhythm of your words.” Continue “rap talking” for a minute or so, so that the students get the idea. Note: Everything you say to the students from the moment they walk in the door should be “rap talked.” This means you are giving your words a musical rhythm that is in sync with the backing track. Do not worry about rhyming.
- Begin to involve the students with questions like, “What is your name?” Students should answer in a complete rapped sentence: “My name is Susan.”
- Move on to more open-ended questions such as, “What are you going to do this weekend?” These will require longer rapped responses.
- Now, pair students, and allow them to have “rap conversations” while a backing track plays in the background.
- Give them a topic, and pause the music every 30 second so that they can take turns rapping to each other. After every minute, change the topic about which they are to rap to each other.
- Have student volunteers come up to “freestyle” for their classmates, to close the lesson.
National Core Arts Standards (Music)
Anchor Standard #5: Develop and refine artistic work for presentation. Example: MU:Pr5.1.3b – Rehearse to refine technical accuracy, expressive qualities and identified performance challenges. Anchor Standard #1: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work. Example: MU:Cr1.1.5 - Improvise rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic ideas, and explain the connection to specific purpose and context.
Common Core State Standards:
ELA Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration. Example: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.1.B: Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions and carry out assigned roles.