When you think of a classroom singing a song together, you probably envision a kindergarten class learning the alphabet or counting. But a new generation of classroom songs has arrived, and this time they’re helping older students learn difficult topics or concepts in math, English and just about any other subject you can think of. Through videos, interactive games, and online courses, teachers are integrating songs and music in general directly into their lessons and classroom activities, giving students the chance to join in. By using a song as an introduction to a new topic or to support the understanding of various topics being discussed in class, students are able to familiarize themselves with the relevant terminology and concepts in an easily, memorable way. Since most of today’s digital natives grew up learning through catchy YouTube videos or watching cartoons on their parent’s iPads, even older students are comfortable with musical lessons. For example, the song above, “Mean Median and Mode”, pulled from a course offered through Learning Upgrade’s online curriculum, is often used by math teachers to introduce basic measures of center to a class. It can keep students more engaged than a traditional lecture, and embeds the melody (and the facts) in their minds so they’ll continue to think with it long after they’ve left the classroom. Try it out for yourself, above.