Use Your Voice to Rap

Rapping is a way for people to express themselves and make sense of the world. It involves speaking or chanting rhymes that are often set to a beat. The rhyming created by rappers is a form of poetry. These rhymes can address important social issues including conservation.

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Room 13 had made posters about helping the native birds of New Zealand. Creating a rap was another way of getting the message across as it was going to be performed at the end of term celebration.

Students were given the task of creating lists of words that rhyme and writing them in  lines of poetry. Each line needed up to thirteen syllable beats. Too many and the line would have to be said too fast. Too few and the words would have to be stretched. It was a great opportunity for the students to build their vocabulary and grammar skills.

Simultaneously, body percussion was explored.

Students used their bodies to explore different rhythms and create beats. One of the first activities was to make their name into a rap.

The words to the class performance rap was decided on and students worked in pairs to edit the first draft.

I think the only slip up was the make, make mistake.

I read the sentence and it didn’t look right and it didn’t make sense.

Mrs Jackson didn’t have full stops at the end of all the sentences.

I think the rap is ‘birdtastic’ because I really like the Māori words and the rhyming words.

Chatterpix was used to record individual raps and these were shared enthusiastically with each other. All the practise helped build confidence in performing and in making musical decisions.

Hi my name is Taya and I speak for the birds

They need our help so they stay here on Earth.

Hi my name is Thomas and I speak for the birds,

Rubbish goes in the bin and not on the floor

You can’t expect change if you don’t change yourself.

Hello my name is Jasmyrah, I speak for the birds,

Stop climbing nesting trees or the birds will all leave.

Hi my name is Brodie and I speak for the birds.

They need me to speak ‘cause they can’t speak for themselves.


2024 Jackson

Leanne Jackson

I have a long history of being part of the education world. My experiences include being a parent, grandparent, and teacher. I have had training in both Early Childhood and Primary School.

I have been working at Wairakei Primary School since 2014 and I am teaching in the junior school. I have a strong belief that all children are capable learners and I am passionate about developing learning programmes that are creative, challenging, authentic and fun with my team. I nurture the children’s curiosity while encouraging them to become self- motivated and independent learners who understand what they are learning and why they are learning it.

I enjoy working in the supportive learning community of Wairakei Primary School where children, families and teachers learn and grow together.

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