Abstract
On August 11, 2023, Hip-Hop celebrated its 50th anniversary. In honor of this milestone, we share an activity that is designed to harness the power and art of Hip-Hop to support learning in mathematics for students with and without exceptionalities. Using a vignette, we examine why culturally sustaining practices are pivotal to learning and how teachers can collaborate with middle-school students to strengthen an evidence-based practice such as schema-based instruction by honoring the funds of knowledge that students possess. The activity includes (a) the creation of culturally relevant word problems in mathematics, (b) schema-based instruction for solving additive-type word problems, and (c) the development of Hip-Hop rhymes to communicate problem-solving math schemas. Schema-based instruction supports students’ mathematical reasoning and word-problem solving by teaching students to identify underlying problem structures and reasons for addition/subtraction or multiplication/division and is an evidence-based practice for supporting word problem solving skills for students with exceptionalities. Herein we provide a practitioner-ready guide for implementing these activities so that educators may replicate or adapt them to meet their students’ needs. Although we focus on schema-based instruction, the Hip-Hop pedagogical tools shared could be applied to enhance instruction in other academic areas.
Recommended Citation
Cook, Michelle J.; Taylor, Jonte C.; Hughes, Elizabeth M.; and Deau, Thomas D.
(2023)
"Culturally Sustaining Math Word Problem Instruction with Hip-Hop Story Schemas,"
Journal of the Arts and Special Education: Vol. 3
:
Iss.
1,
Article 5.
Available at:
https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/jase/vol3/iss1/5
