Use hip-hop to teach English by finding a relationship between a famous hip-hop artist such as Tupac Shakur and a famous poet such as Welsh-born Dylan Thomas. Listen to songs by the rapper and compare the meaning of his words and the rhythm of his rhymes to the poet's. Pull out similar alliterations, thematic elements and metaphors between the two and teach your class the differences and similarities between the two.
Play radio-friendly edits of popular hip-hop songs to study elements of speech and other grammatical lessons. For instance, you can teach your students what is the proper way to phrase something if the rapper is saying it incorrectly in the song. Commonly rappers say or phrase words incorrectly to sound hip or because of the slang. You can take advantage of these grammatical mistakes by teaching your students the proper way to say or phrase words.
Assign homework that requires students to write rhymes about any given subject. This is a fun way to make them learn something that otherwise wouldn't be as fun. For instance, you can ask students to write hip-hop songs about science subjects such as the cell, scientific inquiry, the periodic table or any other topics that you are teaching at the moment. You can also write your own hip-hop songs and give them to your students so they can learn them as homework.
Use online resources to get hip-hop songs that are specifically recorded for teaching. For instance, websites such as EducationRap.com and Flocabulary,com enable you to download hip-hop songs that teach middle school students social studies, math, language and science. Songs you can purchase include the Bill of Rights, presidents of America, the president's Cabinet, geography in America, the states and capitals of America as well as math hip-hop songs that teach adding and subtracting, place value and money.