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encourage knee-jerk, reactionary expressions, the process of sitting down to write a rap is contemplative and reflective. There’s an emphasis on choosing your words carefully and understanding their power, finding a way to refine exactly what it is you want to say. There’s something about writing a rap that places you at the forefront of expression, too – from the minute you start committing words to the page, you’re part of a lineage of powerful expressions of identity. I think part of its appeal as an artistic discipline is that it exists outside the tropes of mainstream literary academia, and positions itself as a subculture, whilst simultaneously transcending written artforms. DIY Want to write raps with your class? You could start by introducing the idea of a mission statement. This could apply to the pupils themselves, their class/ year group, the school, or perhaps all three. Encourage a conversation and reflection on the meaning of identity and gather a list of the values and goals that contribute to that identity and make up the contents of your mission statement. You can then use this list to shape the contents of your raps. I always found this can be a great way of unifying a class by creating a rap that almost serves as a mantra for the school year. In terms of teaching structure, let’s begin with one of the most universally known rhymes of them all – Humpty Dumpty! Use Fig. 1 to understand the structures, and then you can use the blank templates in the downloadable resources (link in the panel above) to create your own. At first glance, this may all seem a bit simplistic, but much like musicians, even the most seasoned rapper still has to count and keep time! The key thing to notice is the pattern of where the rhyming sounds land in relation to the numbers, and the way the number of syllables match. In a carpet session you could ask half the class to hold the count of four, while the other half recites the words, and then swap. Remember, one bar = four counts. A standard rap verse is usually eight or 16 bars long, so groups of two or four pupils could work together to create a verse using four or eight bars each. The real beauty of this process comes when you add music to the equation (you can find plenty of child-friendly rap instrumentals on YouTube). If you can hold the count of four to the music, the connection of all these things becomes instantly apparent as the count naturally houses the rap on top. Give it a go. You won’t be disappointed. TP Confucius MC spent 15 years working in a primary school in Lambeth using rap as a tool for creativity and personal development. His new album, Songs for Lost Travellers , is out now. DOWNLOAD RESOURCES AT Download your FREE rap metre template at tinyurl.com/tp-rap www.teachwire.net | 55 T E ACH RE AD I NG & WR I T I NG @confuciusmc @confuciusmc 1st bar Humpty 1 Dumpty 2 sat on a 3 wall, 4 2nd bar Humpty 1 Dumpty 2 had a great 3 fall 4 3rd bar All the king’s 1 horses and 2 all the king’s 3 men 4 4th bar Couldn’t put 1 Humpty to 2 -gether 3 again 4 No. of syllables: 2 No. of syllables: 2 No. of syllables: 3 No. of syllables: 1 No. of syllables: No. of syllables: No. of syllables: No. of syllables: No. of syllables: No. of syllables: No. of syllables: No. of syllables: No. of syllables: No. of syllables: No. of syllables: No. of syllables: Fig 1 . the words are written to a specific metre, which not only adds a pleasant aesthetic but heightens the meaning behind the words. The other crucial overlap is that, as pleasing as Shakespearean plays and poems are to read, the words were written to be spoken. With that said, I want to take this opportunity to point out how sophisticated rap is. It borrows from many literary devices – metaphor, simile, allegory, personification, etc – and is also very conscious of and deliberate with time, and placing poetry to a metre. Take a beat If the rise of social media has taught us anything, it’s that people crave an outlet for their opinions, and can experience anxiety when they feel they’re not being heard. But where social media platforms in many instances