Exchange Ideas: Spoken Word Poetry

Spoken word poetry is poetry designed to be performed. A poetry slam when you
compete among other poets to share your spoken word poetry. The competition was
invented by Chicago poet Marc Smith in 1984 and spread to New York in 1988. So
what?!! Its always nice to acknowledge the being(s) which have created a new world for
us artists, but now to the fun part!
During this course you will be involved various activities which will bring out the poet in
you! You will have many opportunities to write, perform, write, practice, write, practice,
write, participate in a slam, write, apply to writing contests, write, and possibly make a
chapbook? Oh, and did I mention write? Yes, there will be a lot of creative writing. The
possibilities are endless for us artists and I will need YOUR help to make our poetry
community shine! So lets get to it.
Academic Objectives:
1. I can use poetic devices to create performance poetry.
2. I can effectively utilize speaking and listening skills to evoke and inspire emotions
through poetry performances.
3. I can accurately utilize punctuation to gauge and direct my poetry performances.
Character Objectives:
1. I can persevere through the unique challenges of performance poetry.
2. I can collaborate with my peers to give and receive feedback with thoughtful
reflection.
3. I can collaborate with my peers to create group poetry performances.
4. I can make responsible decisions which correspond to my classroom norms.