Every year Ms. Teague, the librarian at Holladay Elementary, hosts a Reading Olympics competition for 4th and 5th grade students. The students have to read at least five books from the book list by March, then they compete in the Olympics by answering questions about the books with their teams. You can learn more about it on Mrs. Teague’s blog. It’s been very effective at getting the students engaged and excited about reading. In fact, this year, three fifth grade boys were so excited that they came up with the idea of creating a rap for the competition. They worked with the music teacher, Ms. Jones, and me to compose and record their rap. I showed them how to use ButtonBass to generate a good beat that matched their lyrics. Then Ms. Jones used a flip camera to record and edit their video. She published it on the school website, shared it on the morning announcements, and you can check it out here. Way to go, guys!

A group of talented 5th graders in Ms. Satterfield’s class at Laburnum Elementary have been writing their own rap songs to encourage students to make good grades and try hard in school. Using popular tunes like “No Flex Zone” and “Drop that Nae Nae,” they have rewritten the lyrics to promote a positive message. They have also choreographed dance moves to go along with each song. When they performed live for the entire school a couple of months ago, everyone loved it! I wanted them to be able to record a music video so we could keep showing their raps to the students even after they went on to middle school next year. So we used WeVideo to record and edit their videos. If you are missing the old Mac iMovie, you should try WeVideo. You can upload or record videos right in the app. Then you can add music, titles, and special effects. What sets it apart from iMovie is that you can collaborate with others on your projects since its online. Check out a couple of their songs here, and share them with your class!