Designing a Poetry Slam Paper Example

In teaching and learning process, an instructor can use different strategies to make students better grasp various concepts. Although it is not a general approach, slam poetry is a common practice and penning a memorable or powerful slam isn't difficult as it may sound. However, it must have an appealing design that meets the various needs of the students. Indeed, and as Opitz and Erekson (2015) suggest, a successful teaching process starts by assessing the diverse needs of learners and addressing them as the teaching process goes on. It is no doubt a proven way of raising the students' voice.

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When designing a slam poem, several tricks can make it stand out from other spoken or written pieces. The first step in the design has all to do with doing self-homework. Here, the author evaluates the different ways of making the poem more exciting. For instance, he/she can watch a slam poem being performed or consulting resources on YouTube among other information sites. The variety ranges, and it is not a must that someone uses strategies applied by others. The following sections can make it more appealing than others.

Tonal variations: one of the effects that make a difference in a slam poem is how the tones interchange. At this step, the teacher select words and sentences that match different moods as situations and feelings change in the written piece.

Visual illustrations: here, the inclusions have all to do with making the poem more appealing to the eye. Whenever a teacher is dealing with young children, it is essential to use illustrations that capture the interests of the learners: this is because they require stimulation (Nielsen, 2006). One way of achieving this critical objective is by mixing text and visual effects in a piece. Herein, a teacher can select images about the things and concepts that learners know so that they get excited with ease.

After doing the homework and coming with the layout of how the slam poem would be segmented, the part that follows involves choosing a topic. With no doubt, this is a critical part since one must identify an event, person, or issue that not only invokes passion to the composer but also to the readers. At this step, I would pick a trip that changed the way people view life. Some of the illustrations I would include to capture the students' attention would be images of various parts and interesting scenes taking place.

After doing all that, the third and vital step should be putting words on paper. Indeed, it is a critical part since one must use senses and creative reflections to come up with the initial draft of the slam. At this point, the choice of words needs to suit the topic while ensuring that various needs including tonal changes and visual illustrations have been addressed. If possible, someone should partner with a colleague to re-examine whether the composed piece meets all the required contents. Details are also a significant part if someone will succeed in painting a vivid picture about a given concept.

Self-editing is also a crucial part of the designing process. At this step, the critical requirement is to edit the composed piece as the writing process proceeds. When editing, it is crucial to read the poem aloud. If there are issues to do with stumbling over, some lines need to be changed or modified. Words must also be the ones common. If I were the one involved, I would use the online thesaurus to check for different synonyms that would make the poem interesting and somewhat different from what the students come across in different scenarios.

Adding Little Drama

As a way of adding little drama, some inclusions can help in the achievement of the same. Herein, I would include sections where I whisper and others where the voice is loud. As such, the objective should not be explicitly reading but making the students react. If possible, they should laugh and yell or gasp. At some points, it would also be necessary to slow down while speeding up in other sections.

Using a Slam in the Classroom

As Graham (2017) suggests, poetry slams should help the students raise their voice and appreciate diverse viewpoints while engaging them dynamically. In the class, one way of achieving this objective is allocating different sections to different students according to their ability to read. The benefit of doing so is that it is a strategy of making them be actively engaged in the lesson as it proceeds. Secondly, it would be valuable to ask and answer different questions from the pictorial illustrations before reading it. The main reason for doing so is to elicit different thoughts and examine whether students can relate concepts with what they know. After going through such poems together, the teacher can give each student a piece if there are adequate resources.

In the class, students' abilities differ, and the teacher must factor them in the instruction process at all times. One way of doing so is using different learning strategies while going out of the standard learning procedures at times. Accordingly, poetry slams can help to achieve this critical objective, but the design must be topnotch. As briefly analyzed above, the inclusion of different tonal variations and pictorial illustrations can help to capture the interest of the learners as they make the piece more visually appealing.

References

Graham, Ms. (2017). Raising Student Voice: Using Slam Poetry in the Classroom. N.p.: Burlington High School English Department.

Nielsen, D. M. (2006). Teaching young children: A guide to planning your curriculum, teaching through learning centers, and just about everything else. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Corwin Press.

Opitz, M. F., & Erekson, J. A. (2015). Understanding, assessing, and teaching reading: A diagnostic approach (7th Edition). Boston, MA: Pearson.