We asked some of the best contemporary spoken word and slam poets to give us poems that would be appropriate for the classroom.
A complaint we've heard from many teachers is that they would love to use spoken word in their classrooms but they are afraid of getting in trouble. A bulk of spoken word poetry does have quite a few curses. After all, those poems were meant to be read to a rowdy crowd of adults at a slam and not a class full of kids. The poems come from the gut and sometimes an "F" bomb finds its way to the page. Unfortunately, this is what holds many teachers back from using spoken word in their classes.
So behold! The creation of Learn then Burn.
You will not have to sift through this book with a highlighter to try and find the F's and the S's and the B's. We've provided poems from national slam champs, world slam champs, fellow teachers, and poets we feel are the best of what's around.
We've also included some lessons. Some of these lessons have been tested out in the classroom, some not. Feel free to use these lessons as you see fit. Every teacher has their own style so please, do not feel like you have to use the lessons verbatim. Simplify, expand, modify, do whatever you need to do. You know your class so teach the poems the way that suits them best. The most important part is the poetry.
Learn then Burn,
Tim Stafford and Derrick Brown
Praise
"Finally...a book designed by a poet-educator to give teachers the tools to easily engage their students in writing and discussing poetry..."
- Peter Kahn
"It is vital for educator to discover new ways to get students wanting to learn how to read and write poetry and this anthology does just that. These selections are not intimidating, they are the equivalent of having a really rad English teacher who wears tweed suits and sports "read more" knuckle tattoos. And the poems are refreshingly modern, spooky, and even a little zany -a literary buffet that will undoubtedly fill every students' appetite."
- Rachel McKibbens, 2009 Women of the World Slam Champion
"...This collection provides teachers with a scaffolding for their lessons by offering questions, examples, and writing prompts. This will be a valuable asset in the classrooms of new and veteran teachers alike."
- Molly Meacham, Teacher
