Teaching Slam Poetry in Class

Poetry Slam in the Classroom

“Poetry Slam” (2009) on Teacher Tube is an inspiring, energetic example of how ordinary activities that are part of student life can be the subject of poetry. The subject of the poem is gaming, and the student poet uses sound, body language, as well as the highly visual language of poetry to create a memorable piece of performative art. Showing this video in class might be one way to highlight students the nature of living poetry in their everyday lives. First, the teacher can brainstorm with students as a class about what types of subjects students associate with poetry. The teacher can write the list of subjects on the board. This is likely to be subjects like flowers, love, and special occasions like the presidential inauguration.

Then, the teacher can play the poetry slam video about gaming. The teacher can also read different poetry written in free verse, or about unconventional subjects, both by students and by professional poets. This can lead to another poetry brainstorming subject session, about subjects that students do not think are appropriate for poetry, but which are important to them, like homework, friendship, lunch, pets, and other subjects they think a great deal about. The teacher can have students vote upon a potentially unconventional subject for the class to write poems about, and stage their own mini-slam at the end of the session.

As well as listening to different slam subjects, students can be called upon to think more critically about the format of slam poetry. This might include themes they can riff on, not simply subjects, like humans vs. nature or young vs. old. It might include discussions of the types of emotions they see in slam poetry, like how a speaking poet might use tone and volume to emphasize different words, or how a poem which might be very engaging upon the page is less interesting when not delivered well, or vice versa.

Incorporating poetry into other classroom subjects can be useful. For example, listening to Amanda Gorman’s inauguration poem is one way to explore how poetry is part of American civic life and national identity. In music class, examining how lyrics of songs, including popular songs, function as poetry, is a useful way for students to see how poetry is part of their everyday lives. In fact, speaking the lyrics to songs in a slam, or, conversely, setting their own poetry to music, can give students additional empowering artistic tools to engage with the world.

More visually oriented students can illustrate their poems and make use of visual aids, like pictures, lighting, costumes. Students can use other aspects of their passions and talents to create a fully experiential and embodied relationship with the written word. Although using poetry to teach literary concepts like metaphors, similes, alliteration, and figurative language is useful, inspiring enthusiasm in students is also important, and need not solely be confined to literature lessons.

Many different formats can be incorporated into poetry lessons, including acrostics (in which every letter of a particular word is used to form a simple poem), so-called found poetry (using lines from lists, instructions, or other documents to create a poetry using found lines and words), and writing poetry collectively. As a final performance for the year, students can host their own slam poetry café. Every student can deliver a short poem while others watch and eat lunch together. This can also be filmed and shared with other classes. Students can then engage in a final reflection about their performative experiences.