So I'm starting a new 8-week unit with my after school program in Philly today that I'm really nervous/excited about. Thought I'd give you all the assignment that I gave the students over winter break and see what you think/see if anybody has suggestions as we move forward. I teach this class to about 10 middle school kids at a public charter school in North Philadelphia. I do most of the writing instruction and I have a co-teacher who handles the beats and technical stuff. He and I collaborate on all the lesson plans, but the Kool G Rap idea is kinda my baby. Anyway, below is the worksheet I handed out to everyone before they left for break - let me know what you all think:
Hip-Hop Club – Second Trimester Opening Assignment

Students –

First of all, Mr. Paul and I really need to thank those of you who stuck through and stayed on point for the whole first session. Your focus and dedication paid off with some really great music. You should be proud: we are. For those of you who are trying hip-hop for the first time, or couldn't make it through the whole first trimester, welcome and welcome back.

At the beginning of the first trimester, we talked a bit about the roots of hip-hop and what the pioneers of hip-hop were trying to do. They were trying to take the anger and frustration of dangerous neighborhoods and turn it into positive and creative artistic expression. We talked about how we want to represent ourselves, how we want others to see us, and how we see the world around us. These are the ideas that we want to focus on for this second session.

Attached to this letter are the lyrics to Kool G Rap's "Streets of New York", a true hip-hop classic. You should all get a CD with a copy of the song too. Kool G Rap is widely recognized as one of the sickest MCs of all time, for a couple reasons. Listen to the song, study the lyrics, and come to class ready to discuss. We want your honest reactions to the song, but think about the following:


* Where do the rhymes happen in Kool G Rap's writing? Are they just at the end of his lines?
* What is the picture he's trying to paint, or the message he's trying to send? How does his writing help get him where he's trying to go?
* Can you think of other ways that you would get a similar message across?
* Why would we ask you to listen to this song if we're talking about representing ourselves and how we see the world around us?


Enjoy, and we can't wait to see you all in January. Have a safe and happy New Year.
Peace,
Paul and Jim

Streets of New York
by Kool G Rap and DJ Polo
from the album Wanted Dead or Alive,© 1990 Cold Chillin' Records

(verse one)
In the streets of New York
Dope fiends are fiending for morphine
The TV screen follows the homicide scenes You live here, you're taking a chance So I look and I take one glance, there's a man inside an ambulance Crowds are getting louder, I wonder how the People want to go fight for the white powder People hanging in spots They waited until the blocks got hot And got raided by the cops I'll explain the man sleeping in the rain His whole life remains inside a bottle of Night Train Another man got his clothes in a sack Cause he spent every dime of his rent playing blackjack And there's the poor little sister She has a little baby daughter Named Sonya and Sonya has pneumonia So why's her mother in a club unzipping zippers?
Yo that's her job, Sonya's mommy is a bar stripper Drug dealers drive around looking hard Knowing they're sending their brothers and sisters to the graveyard Everyday is a main event, some old lady limps The pushers and pimps is eating shrimps It gets tiring, the sound of a gun firing They must desire for the sound of a siren A bag lady dies in an alleyway She's seen the last of her days inside the subways More and more down the slope, the kid couldn't cope So he stole somebody's dope and a gold rope Now my son's on the run, he's a wanted one He had fun then was done by a shotgun Upstairs I cover my ears and tears The man downstairs must have drank too many beers Cause every day of his life he beats his wife Until one night she decides to pull a butcher knife Blind man plays the sax The arms on my moms show railroad tracks Many lives are cut short That's when you're living In the streets of New York

(verse two)
Baby needs new shoes
But his papa uses all the money for booze A young girl is undressed in the back seat of a Caddy Calling some man Daddy Three men slain inside an apartment All you could see was the sparks when it darkened Daylight broke, cops roll on the scene The drug war, daily routine Gambling spots, just a poor man's jackpot You winning a lot, you get shot The drug dealing fanatics But you don't want no static Cause they got crack addicts with automatics Shoot-outs for a desire for territory A kid got caught in the crossfire A tired mother can't take no more She grabs a bottle full of sleeping pills and took about twenty-four Human beings are laying on the pavement Cause they're a part of a mental enslavement The cop snipers, little babies in dirty diapers This type of life is making you hyper People scouting a torched-out building And got killed with the cold air filled in Is hell really suggested?
One more person's arrested, a child molested A little kid says, "Yo I got a color TV, CD player, and car stereo And all I want is a capsule I also got a .38, don't give me no hassle."
One kid heads straight for the top
And gets stopped and popped by a crooked cop Look behind you when you walk That's how it is in the streets of New York