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...

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...…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 caf. 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…