Learn Then Burn

by Stafford, Tim

• ISBN13: 9780984251575
• ISBN10: 098425157X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-05-30
• Publisher: Write Bloody Publishing

Summary

Hello teachers! We know you work hard. Besides ninjas, you have the hardest job in the world. Between the teaching, the testing, the grading, and the nurturing it's difficult to seek out new materials for your classroom. We are here to help. As poets and teachers, we know the power of the spoken word in the classroom. All you have to do is attend a youth slam or find a clip of one online and you will see the positive impact modern poetry has on our young people. It is able to engage students from any background in a way that classical poetry simply cannot touch. 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 with rough language and themes. So behold! We asked some of the best contemporary spoken word and slam poets to give us poems that would be appropriate for the classroom. This means 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 and the Z'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 amazing lessons in its companion book for the teacher, sold separately.

Author Biography

Tim Stafford is a poet and educator from Lyons, IL. He is the editor of the ""Learn Then Burn"" anthology series (Write Bloody) and he is the author of the collection ""The Patron Saint of Making Curfew"" (Haymarket Books). As a former Chicago Poetry Slam Champion, he has performed at festivals throughout the US and Europe including the German National Poetry Slam, WOERDZ Festival (Switzerland), and the International Spoken Word Festival (Germany). He currently teaches at a restorative justice-based alternative high school in Cook County, IL and teaches poetry workshops all over the country.

Table of Contents

In front of the class	p. 11
Ignition	p. 15
History of the Ardenwood B-Boys	p. 16
Water Gun	p. 19
Tambourine! Tambourine! Tambourine! Tambourine!	p. 23
The Nat Turner chase movie pitch	p. 24
Your Fossil is the Shape of my Mouth	p. 27
The Hanged Man talks about transition	p. 28
Ode to the boom box	p. 30
Hips For the Hop	p. 32
Rough Draft	p. 35
Underdog	p. 38
Nelly and her dream of friendship	p. 40
Loneliness	p. 41
Pox	p. 42
propers	p. 45
Sound of Revolution	p. 47
Ye Modern Woman	p. 51
Dancing in the Rain With Annie	p. 53
The bicycle	p. 54
Something that Lives Between the Two	p. 55
Wealts of Silence	p. 56
Phone Wires	p. 57
Never	p. 60
Untitled	p. 61
Pain Suite	p. 63
Zombie Vegetarian	p. 64
Shakespearean Sonnet for E-40	p. 65
William Shakespeare Gets Hooked On 8-Bit Nintendo	p. 66
The Foam	p. 68
Zip-Lines	p. 70
Power Out	p. 73
Promises	p. 76
Love Song for the Plastic Bag	p. 77
Benediction for Prom Night	p. 79
Clockwork	p. 80
For those who can still ride an airplane for the first time	p. 82
Why Gramma Grows Old With G.I. Joe	p. 85
Old senryu	p. 87
You make holy war	p. 88
Héctor Lavoe is God	p. 91
Write a Poem About Monsters	p. 95
Writing Prompts 2008	p. 97
Life:(Un)Titled	p. 100
Autobiography #32	p. 102
Fishing for Satellites	p. 103
To the Lightning Teachers	p. 106
Come Alive	p. 109
About the Editors	p. 113
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