A former Baltimore City Public Schools educator is using hip-hop to teach youths about social-emotional learning.November is Hip-Hop History Month, and middle school students at The Commodore John Rodgers ElementaryMiddle School get to listen to hip-hop music and analyze the lyrics in class as a part of their advisory period.”It’s fun because it gives you a break from actual class time,” said Jamil Taylor, an eighth-grade student. “Even though we are still learning, you are learning about stuff that is way more interesting than ‘y equals mx.'”It’s all thanks to a program called We Do It 4 the Culture, a social-emotional learning curriculum rooted in hip-hop culture and storytelling for students in the sixth grade through 12th grade.”We leverage hip-hop culture because it is a universal language. There’s nowhere you can go on this planet where hip-hop has not made an impact, so we try to connect with what students are familiar with, what they are listening to,” said Jamila Sams, the school’s former assistant principal, who created the program.The curriculum uses age-appropriate hip-hop songs with positive messages to connect the students to important life skills, like self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision-making.”Just now, they are having conversations about the grind,” said Marc Martin, the school’s principal. “I think they listen to music and they don’t always connect that to their world, and now, you are able to connect what they are doing and how they can apply that to their real life.”Aisha Moody, the school’s dean of students, teaches students with part of the curriculum, using songs from basketball player and rap artist, Flau’jae Johnson.”It’s exciting to have a curriculum that kind of breaks the norm and bridges that gap,” Moody told 11 News. “It gives us an opportunity, a different way to connect with students on a different level.”We Do It 4 the Culture is in schools in 15 states and it’s open to expanding.”What I love about it is that 75% of our schools are saying that the relationships between the students and the teachers are improving, and relationships peer to peer are also improving because now we are creating safe spaces, where students can be their authentic selves and talk about topics that are important to them,” Sams told 11 News.Taylor told 11 News that the curriculum is helping her learn how to be her authentic self.”I feel like it taught me to just be yourself because I don’t feel like hip-hop should be just narrowed down to one specific thing,” Taylor said. “I feel like it’s many different things, so it’s just, like, be yourself and stay true to yourself.”
A former Baltimore City Public Schools educator is using hip-hop to teach youths about social-emotional learning.
November is Hip-Hop History Month, and middle school students at The Commodore John Rodgers ElementaryMiddle School get to listen to hip-hop music and analyze the lyrics in class as a part of their advisory period.
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“It’s fun because it gives you a break from actual class time,” said Jamil Taylor, an eighth-grade student. “Even though we are still learning, you are learning about stuff that is way more interesting than ‘y equals mx.'”
It’s all thanks to a program called We Do It 4 the Culture, a social-emotional learning curriculum rooted in hip-hop culture and storytelling for students in the sixth grade through 12th grade.
“We leverage hip-hop culture because it is a universal language. There’s nowhere you can go on this planet where hip-hop has not made an impact, so we try to connect with what students are familiar with, what they are listening to,” said Jamila Sams, the school’s former assistant principal, who created the program.
The curriculum uses age-appropriate hip-hop songs with positive messages to connect the students to important life skills, like self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision-making.
“Just now, they are having conversations about the grind,” said Marc Martin, the school’s principal. “I think they listen to music and they don’t always connect that to their world, and now, you are able to connect what they are doing and how they can apply that to their real life.”
Aisha Moody, the school’s dean of students, teaches students with part of the curriculum, using songs from basketball player and rap artist, Flau’jae Johnson.
“It’s exciting to have a curriculum that kind of breaks the norm and bridges that gap,” Moody told 11 News. “It gives us an opportunity, a different way to connect with students on a different level.”
We Do It 4 the Culture is in schools in 15 states and it’s open to expanding.
“What I love about it is that 75% of our schools are saying that the relationships between the students and the teachers are improving, and relationships peer to peer are also improving because now we are creating safe spaces, where students can be their authentic selves and talk about topics that are important to them,” Sams told 11 News.
Taylor told 11 News that the curriculum is helping her learn how to be her authentic self.
“I feel like it taught me to just be yourself because I don’t feel like hip-hop should be just narrowed down to one specific thing,” Taylor said. “I feel like it’s many different things, so it’s just, like, be yourself and stay true to yourself.”
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