An Oahu teacher writes rap tunes to teach kids grammar
May 13—1/2
Swipe or click to see more
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM
Donna Fisher, resource teacher for English language arts for the Pearl City-Waipahu complex area, has been creating rap songs — about 200 — for the past 20 years as a tool to teach middle schoolers.
2/2
Swipe or click to see more
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM
Fisher demonstrates to a group, above, how she uses rap music to teach English grammar concepts on a large-screen TV.
Select an option below to continue reading this premium story.
Already a Honolulu Star-Advertiser subscriber? to continue reading.
Get unlimited access
From as low as $12.95 /mo.
Can you remember the difference between a regular and an irregular verb, name the seven relative pronouns or identify the object of a preposition?
Students of English teacher Donna Kay Fisher might well recall such complex grammar concepts, because their lessons were put to the tune of 200 rap songs she created to grab their attention and embed the concepts in their memory.
"What I want is to put an idea in your long-term memory that you can't shake even if you wanted to shake it! ... If you can put it in music, it's going to get stuck in your head," said Fisher, now a state Department of Education resource teacher in the Pearl City-Waipahu complex.
As an example, she sings the classic nursery tune "Twinkle, twinkle ...," and when she asks what follows, people invariably finish with "little star, how I wonder what you are."
Fisher points out that she grew up watching ABC's "Schoolhouse Rock" and can still recall some of the lessons she sang along with.
Her musical background made it easier to write her own songs, though she notes how incongruous it is for "an older white lady" who was trained as a classical violinist to be composing rap tunes.
It was in 2003 at Ilima Intermediate School when Fisher initially thought of using rap as an appealing way for students to remember their grammar lessons. She began by researching the basic facts of a concept, used the RhymeZone website to help her rhyme the words and found a catchy beat on an automatic keyboard.
To present her lessons, she posted the words on the wall with an overhead projector, turned on the keyboard and started rapping.
"It worked so well, the kids would not go to recess or lunch," she recalled. Instead, they would ask to listen to her rap songs and dance along.
"It was absolutely unbelievable. Everybody was going crazy just putting things to song!" she said.
Fisher later taught at Lanakila Baptist School for several years and then was head of the English Department at Kapolei Middle School, where she got students involved in writing the songs. She started adding graphics and later tried to incorporate some local flavor into the songs. As an example, she used Moana, a 2016 Walt Disney animated film character, in one of her lessons.
When she started out, it took Fisher weeks to write a song. With her students' help it would take about one week, but now it takes her only a day or two.
Fisher's rap songs have proved highly effective. Her students' test scores reflected that they had thoroughly understood and remembered the lessons. She still bumps into former students, now adults, who say, "I still remember your raps, Mrs. Fisher!"
"In 20 years I've never had one failing student," she said.
Fisher has no trouble reciting the lyrics of one of her raps to make a point about a particular grammar concept. She's a self-described workaholic with a bit of an obsessive compulsive disorder — "I love being OCD!"
In the age of artificial intelligence that can mimic writing skills, Fisher said people ask why students need to be proficient in English and language arts. She said her first priority is to prepare students for their future, and "everybody has to be able to write," whether it be for college, a career or a blue-collar job.
In 2023, on the heels of a life-changing crisis, Fisher put all of her raps on YouTube — on the Dr. Donna K. Fisher (EdD) Educational Rapper channel — to preserve them for public use. In 2019, at age 58, she had a major heart attack while teaching a class at Kapolei Middle and nearly died. One of her big regrets at the time was not making them available.
"I never did anything with my raps," she thought. "They're going to die with me. Now nobody benefits from them."
But she didn't slow down for long. About two years later she entered a new doctorate program at Chaminade University. Earlier this month she earned a degree in organizational leadership for adaptation and change.
Not only will her degree help her as a resource teacher, but the "doctor" title also will lend her the credibility she always felt she would need to write a curriculum book on grammar.
That's a rap
For a list of 200 rap songs, including lyrics, on YouTube, visit the Dr. Donna K. Fisher (EdD) Educational Rapper channel at .
