I think it is okay to let your students have some fun. They are kids.

Yesterday they had to do a "gallery walk" where they walked between 7 stations in the classroom, learning about the 7 geographic regions of Texas. Not too much fun. My teaching coach encouraged me to push my kids higher on Bloom's Taxonomy, so I experimented a little bit at the end of the lesson. I had each walking group of 3 create a rhyme for a specific region, which involves higher order thinking. In their rhyme, they had to include: the name of the region, it's location (north, south, etc.), and one feature of it.

Last night I placed the 7 rhymes in order, creating a rap for my class. They were begging to rap it first this morning, but I insisted on "introducing the new material" myself. First, I had to give an interesting mini-lesson on dialect, explaining that the rap language is one dialect, and that when they interview for a job, or write a paper for Mr. Pierson, they should not use it. I didn't touch the issue of Black English, because I did not want to get sidetracked. I had Kelley tap the beat on a table. Dimitri insisted on beatboxing and I didn't see the harm. I rapped like a true white boy, starting with an intro that was something like this: "Yo yo yo. Moore to the max up in here. All the way from Washington to the WB (West Briar Middle School)." They all laughed, and I knew I had them hooked.

You have to be careful about including fun activities, because they must be tied to your objective. I think I was able to accomplish that. My objectives were: SWBAT locate the 7 regions of TX on a map, and SWBAT describe features of each region. Next to each verse I included a map of Texas with the specific region shaded in. They were also engaged in literacy, because I made them read along as volunteers (so many volunteers) rapped the song.

The teacher next door was giving a test, and had to come over to tell me to quiet it down. We did, but part of me was glad we were making a ruckus. Today, it was okay for my students to be loud. When I grade their quizzes tomorrow, I'll know if they retained the information. The "Seven Regions Rap" is below, written entirely by my wonderful seventh grade class.

Panhandle Plains, in the North,
Beef, wheat, and cotton is what we put forth.

We in Hill Country
Where Austin is the city.
We have a lotta hills,
But they all staying still.

Prairies and Lakes is very calm,
We don’t have earthquakes in this darn song.
Yes we in the Northeast.
The Biggest. The Baddest.
The Biggest Baddest Beast.

Piney Woods, in the East.
Beaumont and Tyler: Cities with the Beat.

We boyz in da hood, riding in our Lexus
Goin on over, to the East side of Texas
Gulf Coast! Gulf Coast!
Beaches and Trees,
Everybody in White Tees.
Oil Fields! Oil Fields!

South Texas Plains, in the South,
Cactus, fruits, and veggies, in ya mouth!

Big Bend Country, ya heard West Side,
The canyons, the Rio, where we reside.