Rap class 2.0

I'm teaching my rap class again this summer. It's probably the sixth or seventh time I've taught the course in two years. It was time to change things up: I was getting tired of presenting the same material in the same way, and I'm not convinced that it was getting through to the students as much as I would've liked. So I tried some new things, based on the work I did last year with my colleague at UW Bothell as well as the "flipped" classroom idea. I had so much that I wanted them to read, and I really wanted to shift the focus to the music and lyrics, rather than dealing in abstractions.

Here's what the assignment for today looked like:

Choose one of the following readings:

• Chang, ch. 1
• Rose, ch. 6
• Asante, "Interview with the ghetto" (click to download PDF)

Choose one of the following songs [I provided links to YouTube videos and lyrics]:

• Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, "The Message" (lyrics)
• MC Shan & Marley Marl, "The Bridge" (lyrics)
• Boogie Down Productions, "South Bronx" (lyrics)

Once you've read the selection, familiarize yourself with the song. Listen to it several times, follow along with the lyrics and pay attention to the visuals in the video.

Consider the relationship between the reading and the song. What can you learn about the song from the reading and vice versa? Post a 250-word response to this question to the discussion board before Thursday's class. Be sure to mention the title of the reading that you did as well as the name of the song.

The 250-word response before class encourages them to think about one text in terms of the other and ensures that they come to class prepared. I peeked in on Canvas (our LMS) before class to get a sense of who read/listened to what, and what kinds of things were on their minds. Most had read the Asante article and listened to "The Message," a few had done the other readings and listenings, but everything was covered.

At the beginning of class, I put them into groups based on the reading that they had done and gave them the following questions to discuss as a group:

• What is the main point of the reading? How would you summarize it for a friend?
• How does this reading challenge your previously held assumptions?
• What problems do you have with this reading? (or, what problems does this reading attempt to solve? What problems does it create?)
• What are the implications of this reading for our understanding of rap music?

After 20 minutes of group discussion, I had each group "report" to the class (I had an "order" to the readings in my mind). The students immediately began making connections among the readings, and drawing connections to the musical examples. They pretty much sustained the discussion for two and a half hours: I interjected a few comments (gaps left by the readings) and played a few short video clips. I would say about 60% of the class (25 students) was actively participating, and by and large the participation was at a reasonably high level.

I don't want to get my hopes up--it could be beginning-of-the-quarter enthusiasm--but this seems to be a great plan for a class like this.