The Mississippi Delta is famous for its blues musicians, but the fourth graders at Tunica Elementary School are learning about rhythm, rhyme and chord progressions in a whole new way. By incorporating the blues into science, math, social studies and English, the school is helping students to retain more information through song while teaching them about their state’s musical history. In teacher Chevonne Dixon’s class, students follow the Mississippi Blues Trail Curriculum to write blues songs about the weather and about being a kid. And they study classic blues lyrics to learn about the challenges of growing cotton, the civil rights movement, media and transportation. The school’s principal, Eva McCool-O’Neil, says she wants to see other classes happily singing the blues next year. “I see student engagement really, really, really high,” she told the Associated Press. “Students love to do things other than just the traditional.”