Flocabulary provides a variety of lesson content to cover a range of grade levels and subject areas. For all content, Flocabulary lessons expose students to Tier 2 and Tier 3 vocabulary words using a similar framework, with a video to introduce the vocabulary using hip-hop music and multiple activities where students can interact with the vocabulary words in different ways with increasing complexity.
In this article, we will look at the different types of content that you can find on Flocabulary, including the following:
Subject area specific lessons
Flocabulary has hundreds of subject area specific lessons that focus on Tier 3 vocabulary words in language arts, math, science, and social studies. These videos can be used to help students master subject-specific vocabulary terms. Learn how to search for these lessons by category, keyword, or standard alignment.
Word Up
Flocabulary's Word Up content is a research-based and standards-aligned vocabulary program that focuses on Tier 2 high-frequency vocabulary seen across subject areas on standardized tests. With close to 140 instructional lessons for grades K-8, Word Up teaches over 1,000 terms pulled directly from standardized tests. The Word Up lessons are broken up into grade level units. There are also 11 lessons for SAT/ACT vocabulary.
In addition to the traditional Flocabulary lessons, Word Up content comes with the following additional resources to support the program.
Word Up schedule
The exercises and sections within each Word Up unit can be assigned flexibly and accommodate any schedule. Use them as homework, group work, independent practice or as components of an after-school program. See a sample schedule for grades 2-5 and for grades 6-8.
Pre and post-assessments
Each unit of Word Up includes a quiz to assess student mastery of the vocabulary words. You can find it by clicking on Quiz in the left-side menu. In addition, each grade level includes a pre-assessment and post-assessment. At the end of the unit, measure vocabulary growth by comparing results on the pre- and post-assessments. If you aren't sure which Word Up level is best for your students, use the diagnostic test to determine the appropriate grade level.
Worksheet sequence
Give students more practice with the words by following the Word Up exercise sequence, which can be found in the Teacher Resources section of any Word Up lesson. This sequence will supplement the video and activities to provide additional exposure to word usage and meaning. It is not necessary to include all suggestions; instead, choose the ones that you think will work best for your students. See the exercise sequence for elementary grades (Word Up Turquoise, Red, Orange and Indigo) and the exercise sequence for middle grades (Word Up Green, Yellow and Blue).
Extension questions
Each Word Up has writing extension questions that test knowledge of words and allow students to practice using the vocabulary words in new contexts.
Current events
Flocabulary's current events lessons, The Week in Rap and The Week in Rap Jr. provide another way to increase student exposures to Tier 2 and Tier 3 vocabulary words and make real-world connections. These lessons focus on news stories from around the word during the past seven days. A new lesson is released for The Week and Rap and The Week and Rap Jr. every Friday, August through May. Twice a year, The Week in Rap reports on more than the previous 7 days. Each December, look out for The Year in Rap, where we summarize the top stories from the past year. In May, to celebrate high school graduates, 18 Years in Rap summarizes the top news stories of the last 18 years.
Here are some additional resources to support The Week and Rap and The Week and Rap Jr. lessons.
The Week in Rap shout-out contest
Each week, students can enter a contest to get a shout-out in an upcoming The Week in Rap video. Week in Rap shout out contests ask students to reflect on the news with writing, math, and art. Make a contest entry a regular assignment or ongoing extra credit and maybe you'll earn your school a shout out, too.
Jigsaw the interactive lyrics
Divide the interactive lyrics amongst your students. Use this printable worksheet to guide your students' mini research projects that they can share with each other.
Dive deeper with The Week in Rap exercise sequence
With The Week in Rap exercise sequence, students can demonstrate their understanding of the news while building critical thinking, reading, writing, geography, science and math skills.
Life skills
Flocabulary also provides content on life skills, including racial and social justice, social and emotional learning, health and wellness, and financial literacy. These lessons focus on content related to students' personal, academic and professional lives.
Racial and social justice
Flocabulary's racial and social justice content includes a growing library of resources to help educators address crucial issues of racial equity and social justice in the classroom and SEL skills to help students engage in compassionate, productive conversations. Many of these videos are free even if you don’t have a Flocabulary account. Additional support for these lessons, including an implementation guide and suggestions for educators, can be found on Flocabulary's Racial Justice Resource Guide.
Social and emotional learning
Flocabulary's social & emotional learning videos on topics like building empathy, active listening, managing frustration, bullying and time management can help build students' resilience and interpersonal skills and foster class community. This series also includes videos that build digital literacy, such as oversharing, which was created in partnership with Common Sense Media.
Financial literacy
Flocabulary's financial literacy videos were created in partnership with City University of New York and New York State Higher Education Services Corporation, and are aligned to the Council for Economic Education's standards. Each video is accompanied by an in-depth activity sheet (found in the Teacher Resources section of each lesson) that gives students the chance to practice the skills in the video and ask think about financial literacy in their own lives.