Nearpod, the platform where K-12 teachers find, create and distribute digital lessons, today announces its partnership with Flocabulary, which uses hip-hop songs and videos to increase student engagement and achievement. Together, the companies co-developed and are launching a series of classroom-ready lessons that pack Flocabulary’s signature tunes alongside Nearpod’s existing suite of interactive, fun and educational tools that span everything from virtual reality field trips to critical thinking questions.

"Nearpod has made a name for itself as platform educators love to use,” said Alex Rappaport, CEO and cofounder of Flocabulary. “We're thrilled to be offering a select number of Flocabulary videos on Nearpod and look forward bringing our content to more students and teachers through this partnership."

Recent research from the University of Washington found that not only does music help students better understand concepts initially, but it also helps retain what they learned for longer. It’s for this reason that Flocabulary has seen success boosting reading scores and increasing participation, effort, engagement, and focus in classrooms.

Now, teachers can look forward to 14 hip-hop infused lessons on Nearpod that help teach the following topics:

• Science Teach evolution, taxonomy, electricity and more for grades from elementary through high school
• Math Fractions and geometry get an interactive digital makeover so students are more attentive during lessons
• Life Skills From inclusion and empathy to financial literacy and career advice, Nearpod and Flocabulary have important soft skills covered

“At Nearpod, we transform things people think are distractions into powerful learning opportunities,” revealed Guido Kovalskys, CEO and cofounder of Nearpod. “For instance, we’re adamant that the smartphone is an important platform for learning in classrooms and we’ve shown how that can be true. Flocabulary takes the same attitude with hip-hop, and together we’re going to make teacher’s lives a little easier.”

The partnership with Flocabulary underscores Nearpod’s commitment to creating a diverse library of high-quality lesson plans unavailable anywhere else. The company has also recently partnered with BBC Worldwide Learning to add videos to Nearpod’s interactive lessons.  Additionally, Nearpod was recognized by the 2016 Inc. 500 as one of the fastest growing private companies with a three-year revenue growth rate of 1,320 percent.