This is my new series where I introduce you to some of the past material I’ve written. I have written skits for special events at church and I have also written short stories, some of which I admit are half-done. Did I tell you, I once created my own entertainment magazine in high school! But I won’t be sharing my little paper bootleg magazine. At least for now. Anyway, welcome to Tannika’s Writing Vault and enjoy!

Here is an article I wrote when I was in college studying English: Professional & Technical Writing with a concentration in Journalism. It was subsequently asked to be published on a Hip Hop site but I can’t seem to find the site anymore.

Hip-Hop As A Learning Tool

By Tannika Moore (c) January 4, 2007

Pt 2

Fruchter is a thin white man with short dark hair, glasses and slight facial hair. He mostly dresses in jeans or khaki pants and a tee. He seems to be laid back even when he sits down to talk.

To the students, however, it doesn’t matter that a white man is using Hip Hop to teach them. “I feel like we both can relate to each other,” Cortez McClung, 13, says. “He knows where we coming from and we know where coming from,” he said.

It doesn’t matter to Christopher Taylor, 12, either. He attends Henderson with McClung too and is a regular of Fruchter’s course. “[Hip Hop] is international,” Taylor says.

To answer the critics question of how can he relate to Hip Hop or the African American students he teaches, Fruchter reiterates that he is not teaching Hip Hop, and also refers to his own background.

“There are many classes that teach the history of Hip Hop, and that is important for people to learn. However, I’m not doing that here. I’m not claiming to be a Hip Hop historian. I am using Hip Hop as a vehicle for open communication and engagement with my students.” Fruchter adds, “I have a real passion and love for music. I know Hip Hop and they [the kids] know Hip Hop. If I had to learn Japanese to best reach these kids, I would do that. Luckily, I just have to dig into my record collection.”

Fruchter is also very familiar with the South Side of Chicago. He grew up not far from Henderson Elementary in Hyde Park (another south side community in Chicago), and as a child Fruchter was exposed to a wide variety of individuals and experiences. Hyde Park is known for its variety of races and cultures. The neighborhood made a profound imprint on Fruchter. He says that regardless of what color you are, if you are an aware person, you know what’s going on. And with awareness comes responsibility and purpose.

“Just because I’m white does not mean that I am blind to the poverty, and educational inequality, and other problems that exist on the Southside of Chicago, or throughout the rest of the country. To change anything, you have to go out of your comfort zone. That is another thing that separates this from what is called Hip Hop Academia. I don’t study Hip Hop through books, and magazine articles. I study it by joining community centered Hip Hop organizations, going to concerts, playing music, and interviewing artists. I think it’s important to also show kids that Hip Hop is something that is all around them, and does not just exist on TV.”

Indeed Fruchter loves music and knows Hip Hop. He practically eats, drinks, and sleeps music. Besides teaching a Hip Hop-inspired course, Fruchter also deejays. He’s been deejaying with turntables for three and a half years. He plays all kinds of music from classical to Hip Hop but the most requested music comes from the Billboard Music chart Top 40 Hits.

As a deejay, Fruchter created the mixtape series titled “A poor Craftsman Always Blames His Tools.” Currently, he is a chairperson for the national organization called Hip Hop Congress. The Hip Hop Congress was formed to get people involved in Hip Hop music and culture to be active in their communities. The non-profit program puts events together like can food drives, lectures, free-style rap battles and concerts.

Fruchter is also a writer and the managing editor for SoundSlam.com (a Hip Hop online magazine). He has interviewed over 100 artists including the Beastie Boys, Busta Rhymes, Common, Lupe Fiasco, and Wyclef Jean.

Right now, though, his focus is on inspiring young people to learn through Hip Hop. “I remember when I was their age, and how inspired I would get when listening to music. Music taught me a lot, and helped me to understand the world around me better. I just want to show that to my students.”

He continues to teach the course at Henderson as well as to eighth graders at KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) Academy on the West Side of Chicago.

One of Chicago’s top high schools, Morgan Park Academy, has also taken interest in the class. Fruchter hopes to begin teaching “You Can Quote Me On That!” there in 2007. “If I can expose some kids to real creative people (like the Beastie Boys and Mos Def) that inspired me to take ownership of my thoughts, feelings, and aspirations, hopefully some of them will walk away inspired as well,” Fruchter says.

Fruchter pauses to take his time to reflect on what he wants students to walk away with. “A sense of control for themselves, their future and lives,” he says. “I want them to walk away with a better understanding of psychology and sociology and how it affects them. And I want them to walk away with better reading and writing skills.”

With that in mind, Fruchter saw a need for children to learn psychology and sociology when he was teaching full time. Fruchter believes that psychology has helped him to see things in his own life differently. He feels like this course can help address some of the issues like self-efficacy, conflict-resolution, self-concept (these are a few topics discussed and taught in the course) in their lives.

Keondra Booker, 9, says she learned more about social skills from the course. More profoundly, she calls out two of the psychology/sociology terms she learned in the course. “I remember self-concept and self-efficacy.”

Fruchter, who graduated from Indiana University with a Bachelor’s degree in both psychology and sociology, wants the students to be active listeners and critical thinkers. “The kids respond well to Hip Hop.” Plus, Fruchter believes that if Hip Hop artists are willing to put their music out, we are either going to listen or not, but it would be better to think or analyze what we hear.

“You won’t get the real meaning of the song, if you just listen to the beat,” Taylor says. Taking this class has helped him to pay attention to the lyrics, something he didn’t do before. McClung believes the lyrics are the most important part of the song. As for Booker, she believes you get a sense of emotion when you pay attention to the lyrics and not just the beat.

With a good response from the students, Fruchter plans to get the course in more schools and the lessons much tighter. He has researched the songs, principles and theories that he teaches and applies to the lessons to make sure they are as accurate as possible.

Fruchter has been meeting with Chicago Public School officials, has performed a trial run at Henderson to get it taught during the day, is seeking a vendor’s number, and wants to put together workbooks and materials to support the course.

Richard K. Richardson, principal of Henderson, observed the course trial run. He noted that the students were interested and involved in the lesson that included reading, writing and critical thinking. “I think it [the Hip Hop based course] could be used to develop reading and writing concepts, but it needs to be aligned with the reading and writing objectives.”

Fruchter agrees, and is currently explicitly aligning all of his lessons to the Illinois State Learning Standards, many of which are already touched on in his class. He also wants to add an ISAT prep component, to add to the program’s appeal. Eventually, Fruchter wants to train others to use Hip Hop to communicate sociology and psychology to young students, especially if the children are listening. “My plans [for this course] are to keep doing it, refine it and expand it.”

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If you haven’t read Pt 1 of this article, click here: Tannika’s Writing Vault: Hip-Hop As A Learning Tool Pt 1